Rohit Sharma praised his opening partner KL Rahul for his stunning batting in the initial phase, which allowed Rohit to take some time setting his eyes in. The stitched a 227-run partnership and laid the foundation for India’s win at the VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Both Rohit and KL Rahul scored centuries and India put up a massive total of 387 runs. Rohit Sharma was named the Man of the Match for his stunning 159.

“It was a much-needed victory for us. We wanted to get our act together. We had a very very crucial partnership. KL batted brilliantly and allowed me to take my time. KL is such a talent when you watch it from the opposite end. He is growing in confidence. New partner and you saw the running between wasn’t up to the mark,” Rohit Sharma said during the post match presentation.

“We can take a lot of confidence from how we built that partnership. I have said it many times, once you get past your 100, you should bat as long as possible. As long as a set batter is out, you can get how much ever you want. I have played 200 plus ODIs, it is my responsibility to get as many runs as I can for the team,” Rohit added.

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Rohit Sharma, who joined the elite list of Indian batsmen after crossing 11,000 List A runs during his innings, is now also the leading run-scorer in ODIs this year as well, surpassing Virat Kohli who still has the chance to overtake his star opener. On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav took a hat-trick and became the first Indian player to do so in the ODI. With this win, India have levelled the three-match series 1-1 and the third and final ODI will be played in Cuttack on Sunday.