Rohit Sharma recalls T20 World Cup triumph ahead of ODI series against Sri Lanka

Colombo [Sri Lanka], August 2 (ANI): Ahead of the ODI series, India skipper Rohit Sharma recalled his side’s ICC T20 World Cup 2024 triumph where they defeated South Africa in the final of the competition.

After clean-sweeping Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series, India will play a three-match ODI series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The three ODIs will be held on August 2, August 4, and August 7.

For the 50-over format, senior players like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer have been called along with Rohit.

“Wow! What a month it was. Mazaa hi aa gaya, flooded with memories, etched in history, aisa moment jo zindagi bhar humaare saath rahega. So much so that it still feels that I can put my pads on anytime for the shortest format, (chuckles), nahi yaar chhodo bhai, I had my time, I enjoyed it, it’s time to move on,” Rohit said in a video posted by BCCI.

“Time aa gaya hai for us to get back on the field, ek naye daur ke saath, ek nayi shuruyaat, ek naye coach ke saath. A partnership that is going to hold Indian cricket as paramount. It’s time to hit the reset button aur ab time aa gaya hai for us to get back on the field. Wahi energy, wahi jazbe ke saath, Team India utregi phir ek baar maidan par, kuch naye aur kuch jaane-pehchaane chehron ke saath. This is Team India and this is your captain Rohit Sharma speaking. Let’s go!” the skipper added.

In the upcoming ODI series, Rohit and Kohli are coming back in Indian colours after leading Men in Blue to a memorable seven-run against South Africa in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup in Barbados on June 29.

Rohit also ended the tournament with a career-best performance with the bat, with 257 runs in eight games at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of over 156. His best score was 92 and he scored three half-centuries in the competition to become the second-highest run-getter.

Rohit’s last ODI was a heartbreaking loss to Australia in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup at Ahmedabad last year in November.

The Indian skipper is 291 runs away from becoming the fourth Indian to get 11,000 ODI runs and just 60 runs from overtaking former batter and head coach Rahul Dravid to become the fourth-highest run-getter for India in ODIs. Currently, Rohit has scored 10,709 runs in 262 matches at an average of 49.12, with 31 centuries, 55 fifties and the best score of 264.

Kohli has a whopping 14,797 runs in 292 ODI matches at an average of 58.7. He has the most hundreds in the format, with a tally of 50.

India’s ODI Squad for Sri Lanka series: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.