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With his back against the wall and his famous career at stake, Rohit Sharma silenced his critics in the only way he could, smashing one of his most celebrated 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 magnificent 138, Shubman Gill’s 77 and Virat Kohli’s 74, India could only manage 360 for 7 in pursuit of a mammoth target of 388 built on the back of Ben Duckett’s career-best 142 and Jacob Bethell’s 91. Jos Buttler’s 13-ball 41 proved to be the deciding factor as England scored 82 in the last five overs. With speculation about the selectors and head coach ready to move on from Rohit, the 39-year-old former captain faced immense pressure ahead of the third and final game. Rohit walked onto the hallowed turf of Lord’s with a dual goal: to win the series for India and save his legacy, which has been tarnished by constant speculation from a section of the media. He did not pick up his bat after completing his 34th ODI hundred — the first by an Indian batsman at Lord’s. Nor did he acknowledge the ovation of the suits on the Members’ Balcony after a 110-ball knock stitched with heart, pain and sweat. It was the last time he played an ODI in England, and people would talk for the longest time about how the aging star showed determination when the powers that be made him undesirable. A stand of 147 with skipper Gill and 113 with his old friend Kohli raised visions of an improbable victory. There were 17 boundaries and five sixes for Rohit — three off Josh Tongue — a pull, one down the ground and one wide off long-on. He was bowled for six by Sam Curran (4/75 in 10 overs), who proved to be the bowling hero for England. Curran’s pace deliveries at the death saw Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Kohli in the space of seven deliveries to end any hopes India had. Curran received strong support from left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell (1/49 in 7 overs), a luxury India never had playing a lone spinner in Axar Patel. Although India lost the series, one thing is certain: neither Rohit nor Kohli will be going anywhere until the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. On that day, Gambhir and Gill’s planning went awry and fielding four pacers with a combined experience of 51 games backfired badly. Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to an impact injury to his left knee was a blow for India. A four-pronged attack consisting of 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) lacked both skill and experience against an in-form batting line-up. Duckett and Bethell were fantastic in terms of planning and execution. A batting powerplay in the first 10 overs led to 58 runs, but the wheels fell off between overs 11 and 30 when the bowlers literally ran at breakneck speed. With head coach Gambhir having used Kuldeep Yadav in just 38 matches out of a total of 103 matches (across three formats) since his appointment in 2024, the lack of a spinner other than Axar Patel (0/61 in 10 overs) has really hurt India. While Duckett hit a total of 18 boundaries apart from a six, Bethell, who looked comparatively more fluid at the start, hit 11 fours and a six, before being left in the deep off the bowling of Prasidha Krishna. Joe Root (74 no off 48 balls) continued his golden run of form with another half-century — his third in three games — to cross the 350-run mark. Jos Buttler (41 no off 13 balls) also joined the fun as Brar was given a tough lesson in international cricket, making almost 100 runs. Early on it didn’t help that rookie Prince, bowling on the familiar Lord’s 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-on for a boundary. A rusty Arshdeep Singh did not hold his line while Prasidh Krishna, despite beating Bethell’s bat on several occasions, also hit a strangely loose delivery.However, Bethell did well to complete his half-century off 51 balls as England reached a team total of 100 in the 16th over. By this time, the Indian bowlers had already conceded 15 boundaries and the lines were horribly wrong, allowing the opening pair to settle nicely into a rhythm. In total, they conceded 42 boundaries and six sixes.It is also an established fact that all the other Indian pacers look good when the brilliant Bumrah is in action at one end and the effectiveness vanishes when he is absent. We have seen this in T20Is and now in ODIs as well.
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