Following his remarkable achievement of scoring the fastest century by an Indian player at a Cricket World Cup, captain Rohit Sharma has said that it is his responsibility to ensure a strong start and maintain the mindset of applying pressure on the opposition without faltering.
With his scintillating batting display on Wednesday, the 36-year-old opener reached his century in just 63 balls, the fastest century by an India player at a Cricket World Cup, breaking a 40-year record set by the legendary Kapil Dev 40 years ago.
“When I know I am batting at the top of the order, it is my duty, it is my job to make sure that we achieve that good start, especially in the chase because it helps put the team into a comfortable position early on. And that is something I have done over the years and I love doing that.
“And, when it works out, it looks really good, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. But I want to back myself to keep doing that because that is important, not to lose the mindset of trying and putting that pressure on the opposition,” Rohit said on Hotstar after the match.
Rohit’s groundbreaking performances saw him create records as his century against Afghanistan made him the player with the most centuries in ODI World Cup history, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing world record.
He created the record in just three ODI World Cup against Sachin Tendulkar’s record of creating them across six editions of the tournament.
He also become the second Indian to score centuries in three consecutive World Cups after Sachin.
This was Rohit Sharma’s 31st century in ODI cricket, which means he is the third-highest century-getter in ODI cricket history, upstaging Ricky Ponting (30).