‘I want him to reach this boundary’: Sunil Gavaskar’s special wish for Rohit Sharma before retirement

Disappointed to see Rohit Sharma miss out on an ODI century in the third match against West Indies, Sunil Gavaskar said he wants the Indian opener to end his international career with more ODI hundreds than his age.Rohit scored 92 off 85 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes, in India’s third ODI against the West Indies. India lost the third ODI after the visitors successfully chased down 352 with captain Shai Hope scoring an unbeaten 162.Rohit entered the match after scoring a century in the second ODI. With skipper Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli for a golden duck, the ‘Hitman’ once again took charge with the bat.Rohit has scored 35 ODI centuries so far. Gavaskar said the 36th hundred in the third ODI would take him closer to the milestone he hopes Rohit will achieve before he can retire after the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.“The reason I was disappointed with Rohit getting out on 92 is because he didn’t get a hundred and maybe he could be done with international cricket after the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027. And at that particular moment when he decides to call it a day, I personally would like Rohit to have more ODIs than his century is closer to his third age. His 36th hundred is special to me the thing when hundreds of players surpass his retirement age, it shows what kind of career they have and the level they have maintained for so many years and that’s why I really want Rohit to achieve in the last year of international cricket, I wanted to score as many Test centuries as my age, if I had reached the 9 retirement age, which was 38,” Gavaskar said on JioStar as quoted by news agency ANI.Gavaskar also pointed out that Rohit’s approach has changed since the 2023 ODI World Cup. While Rohit continues to score at a rapid pace, he now seems to be putting more emphasis on staying at the crease and turning his starts into big scores.According to Gavaskar, this approach can help Rohit score centuries at a good pace while also benefiting India and reducing criticism for slow batting.“There has been a slight change in Rohit’s batting template, which he has set himself as captain for the ODI World Cup 2023, regardless of the possibility of getting there early, regardless of the possibility of getting there earlier, as a captain. He now realizes that his wicket is valuable. He has got the team off to a great start in this World Cup 2023, but he is not just a 30-point batsman.” and that’s why I’m glad he scored a lot. Yes I know he missed a deserved ton in this match but in the previous game he realizes his job is to get a hundred and if he scores he gets a hundred for a score of 70-80 which is a great 50 points for the team. it also keeps him away from critics of slow batting on social media,” Gavaskar said.He ended the three-match ODI series against England with 175 runs at an average of 58.33 and a strike rate of 98.31. He then carried that form into the ODI series against the West Indies where he scored 225 runs in three matches.