India and New Zealand took on each other in the final ODI of the three-match series at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. India put on a run fest after getting an invitation to batting first. The Rohit Sharma-led team put on a mammoth 385/9 in their designated 50 overs on the back of centuries from both their opening batters.
Both Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma capitalized on the assistance from the pitch and added 212 runs for the first wicket. While Gill scored 112 runs from 78 balls, Sharma got out after putting 101 against his name. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, also chipped in with a handy 36. Overall, it was a good day in the office for the Indian batters, especially for captain Rohit who ended three years of wait for an ODI century.
However, a fan was not pleased with the Indian team management’s decision to play Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the third ODI. The fan opined that as India had already pocketed the series, these two batters could have gone back to domestic cricket and played for their respective states in the Ranji Trophy considering an important series is slated to start in two weeks.
“Rohit and Kohli playing a dead rubber in ODI series instead of going and playing a Ranji match before what could be a very important series of their careers seems like quite a short-sighted decision,” wrote the fan on Twitter.
This triggered a debate among the Indian cricket team fans. While some defended the decision saying these two need to play as many games as possible with the ODI World Cup around, some agreed with what the aforementioned user had to say.
Check out the reactions here:
Notably, cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle and former India head coach Ravi Shastri had also suggested that Virat Kohli should skip the third ODI and play in the Ranji Trophy.