India vs Afghanistan | Rohit hundred, Rinku fifty power India to 212/4

Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat.

Skipper Rohit Sharma produced a marvellous, situation-defying hundred, his fifth in T20Is, as India recovered from a top-order meltdown to post a massive 212 for 4 against Afghanistan in the third and final T20I here on Wednesday.

Rohit (121 not out, 69b, 11x4, 8x6) and his perfect sidekick Rinku Singh (69 n,o, 39b, 2x4, 6x6) shared 190 runs for a stellar, unbeaten fifth-wicket stand as India came back from a flaky 22 for four after opting to bat first.

The numbers might suggest a different story, but it was not one of Rohit’s downright marauding knocks but he had to restrain himself for a good part of his stay because of the situation his team had dug itself in.

Even Rinku displayed his destructive instincts judiciously and that gradually-building crescendo was the trademark of their alliance.

Rohit even had to bring out a rather rare shot from his arsenal, reverse sweep to unsettle Afghan spinners.

In fact, a reverse sweep off leg-spinner Qais Ahmad fetched him a T20 fifty for the first time since October 2022.

Of course, there were those inevitable and archetypal pulls too that make a Rohit innings such a compelling watch.