With his back against the wall and his illustrious career on the line, Rohit Sharma silenced his critics the only way he could, smashing one of his most famous centuries in recent memory, although it was not enough to prevent a 27-run defeat in the third ODI against England, as India surrendered the series 1-2 at Lord’s on Sunday. Despite Rohit’s impressive 138, Shubman Gill’s 77 and Virat Kohli’s 74, India only managed 360 for 7 in pursuit of a massive target of 388 built on the back of a career-best 142 from Ben Duckett and 91 from Jacob Bethell. A 13-ball 41 from Jos Buttler proved to be the deciding factor as England scored 82 in the last five overs. With speculation surrounding the selectors and the head coach ready to move on from Rohit in the attack, the 39-year-old former skipper faced immense pressure ahead of the third and final match. Rohit walked onto the hallowed ground of Lord’s with a dual aim: to win a series for India and salvage his legacy, which has been tarnished by constant speculation from a section of the media. He did not lift his bat after completing his 34th ODI hundred – the first by an Indian batsman at Lord’s. Nor did he acknowledge the standing ovation from the suits in the members’ balcony after a 110-ball hit stitched with heart, hurt and sweat.
It was the last time he played an international match for England, and people have been talking for a while longer about how the aging star showed his determination when the powers that be made him feel unwanted. A stand of 147 with skipper Gill and 113 with his old friend Kohli sparked visions of an improbable victory. For Rohit, there were 17 boundaries and five sixes – three off Josh’s tongue – a pull, one down the ground, and one wide. There was a six taken from Sam Curran (4/75 in 10 overs), who proved to be England’s bowling champion. Curran’s pace in deliveries at the death represented Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Kohli in the space of seven deliveries to end any hopes India would have harbored. Curran had capable support from left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell (1/49 in 7 overs), a luxury India never enjoyed by playing a lone spinner in Axar Patel. While India lost the series, one thing is certain: neither Rohit nor Kohli are going anywhere until the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. On that day, Gambhir and Gill’s tactics faltered and they played four players with combined experience in 51 matches, which backfired badly. Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to a left knee injury has been a blow for India. The four-pronged pace attack featuring Prasidh Krishna (2/69 in 10 overs), Arshdeep Singh (0/72 in 10 overs), Prince Yadav (1/79 in 10 overs) and Gurnoor Brar (0/97 in 10 overs), lacks skill and experience against an in-form batting line-up. Duckett and Bethell were outstanding in terms of planning and execution. The power batting of the first 10 overs yielded 58 runs but the wheels came off between 11 overs and 30 when they literally ran the bowlers down. With head coach Gambhir using Kuldeep Yadav in just 38 of his 103 matches (across three formats) since his appointment in 2024, the lack of a second spinner to bail out Axar Patel (0/61 in 10 overs) has hurt India. While Duckett hit 18 boundaries apart from a six, Bethell, who looked relatively more fluent at the start, hit 11 fours and a six, before holed out deep inside Prasidh Krishna’s bowling. Joe Root (74 not out from 48 balls) continued his golden run with another half-century – his third in three matches – to take a total of 350 runs. Jos Buttler (41 not out from 13 balls) also joined in the fun as Brar received a harsh lesson in international cricket, where he has played nearly 100 runs. Initially, it didn’t help that rookie Prince, bowling on Lord’s famous slope, struggled with his length as Bethell pulled him for a six over deep mid-wicket and then slapped it into the gap between deep mid-wicket and mid-wicket for a boundary. A rusty Arshdeep Singh did not hold his line while Prasidh Krishna, despite beating Bethell’s bat on a number of occasions, bowled awkwardly.However, Bethell did well to complete his half-century off 51 balls as England reached the 100-ball total by the 16th over. By then, the Indian bowlers had already conceded 15 boundaries and the lines were horribly wrong, allowing the opening pair to settle well into rhythm. In all, they conceded 42 boundaries and six sixes.It also proved the fact that all other Indian players look in good form when the in-form Bumrah is in action at one end and that effectiveness disappears once he is absent. One has seen it in T20Is and now in ODIs as well.