Rohit Sharma is keeping the significance of his joyous hundred celebration under wraps

Rohit Sharma’s jubilant celebration after reaching his 35th ODI hundred against West Indies in Guwahati left fans guessing about its significance. However, the former India captain has no intention of revealing what it meant to him.

Rohit completed his century in 72 balls in the second ODI on Wednesday, before launching into a prancing motion and punching the air with glee. The moment quickly went viral, but when asked about the celebration after India’s eight-wicket win, Rohit made it clear that it was something he wanted to keep to himself.

“Well, I’ll keep the celebration to myself. Oh, it’s for me, it’s for me. Something is just meant to be with you. It’s not meant to be shared. So yes, it was for me,” Rohit said.

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The 39-year-old had plenty to celebrate after another suggestive performance in the format he now plays exclusively. Rohit scored 101 off 75 balls, hitting 10 fours and 6 sixes, and shared a 255-run opening partnership with Shubman Gill as India chased down West Indies’ imposing 405/7 from 39 balls.

Gill smashed an unbeaten 233 off 133 balls, the fastest double hundred in men’s ODI cricket, as India slumped to 406/2 in 43.3 overs took an elusive 2-0 lead in the three-game series. West Indies had earlier posted their highest ever ODI total with John Campbell, Shai Hope and Amir Jangoo hitting centuries, but their mammoth total was comfortably chased down by the Indian openers.

Rohit’s century also came with an important personal milestone. During his innings, he became only the seventh batsman and the third Indian after Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli to surpass 12,000 runs in ODI cricket. He reached the milestone in his 291st ODI for India and now has more than 12,000 runs, 35 centuries and 62 half-centuries in the format, averaging close to 50.

The century was also Rohit’s second in three matches at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium. He moved into seventh place in the all-time ODI run-scoring list, with Tendulkar leading the way with 18,426 runs and Kohli crossing the 15,000 mark during the first match of the series in Thiruvananthapuram. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara is third with 14,234 runs, followed by Australia’s Ricky Ponting with 13,704, while Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene occupy the fifth and sixth positions with 13,430 and 12,650 respectively.

Rohit, who now plays only ODI cricket with the upcoming World Cup in sight, also spoke about the approach he and Gill took during the record chase. Despite the size of the target, the pair focused on building partnerships rather than worrying about the scoreboard.

“Yes, absolutely. As you said, the wicket was good. We just wanted to keep batting. To be honest, we weren’t worried about the scoreboard. We were just trying to play according to the value of the ball. We were just stitching partnerships, which I think when you’re chasing a target like that, you have to keep stitching big partnerships,” Rohit said.

The partnership eventually put India in complete control, with Gill going on to produce one of the most spectacular innings in ODI history and Rohit completing another century in a format in which he continues to set benchmarks.

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