Rohit Sharma’s historic ton goes in vain as India lose the ODI series at Lord’s

With his back against the wall and an illustrious career on the line, Rohit Sharma silenced his critics in the only way he can, smashing one of his most famous 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 brilliant 138, Shubman Gill’s 77 and Virat Kohli’s 74, India managed just 360 for 7 in pursuit of a mammoth target of 388 built on the back of a career-best 142 from Ben Duckett and 91 from Jacob Bethell. Jose Buttler’s 13-ball 41 proved to be the deciding factor as England scored 82 in their last five overs. With speculation about the selectors and the head coach set to move on from Rohit up front, the 39-year-old former captain faced immense pressure in the third and final match. Rohit stepped onto the hallowed turf of Lord’s with a dual aim: to win the series for India and salvage his legacy, which has been tarnished by constant speculation from a section of the media. He did not pick up the bat after completing his 34th ODI hundred – the first by an Indian batsman at Lord’s. He didn’t even acknowledge the standing ovation from the suits on the parliament balcony after hitting 110 balls stitched together with heart, pain and sweat. It was the last time he played an ODI in England and what people talked about the longest was how the aging star showed determination when his ability made him feel unwanted. A stand of 147 with captain Gill and 113 with his old friend Kohli raised visions of an unlikely victory. It was 17 boundaries and five sixes for Rohit – three off Josh Tongue – a pull, one down the ground and one wide of long-on. Sam Currana (4/75 in 10 overs), who proved to be England’s bowling hero, took a six. Curran’s pace delivery at the death featured Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Kohli in the space of seven deliveries to end any hopes India might have had. Curran received able support from left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell (1/49 in 7 overs), a luxury India never experienced playing a lone spinner in Axar Patel. While India lost the series, one thing is certain: neither Rohit nor Kohli will go anywhere until the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. On that day, Gambhir and Gill’s planning collapsed and playing four pacers with a combined experience of 51 games failed. Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to a left knee injury in the impact was a blow for India. The four-pronged attack 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. The batting powerhouse of the first 10 overs produced 58 runs, but the runs fell between overs 11 to 30 when the bowlers literally got going. With head coach Gambhir having only used Kuldeep Yadav in 38 matches out of a total of 103 matches (across three formats) since his appointment in 2024, the lack of a second spinner to save Axar Patel (0/61 in 10 overs) hurt India. While Duckett hit a total of 18 boundaries apart from a six, Bethell, who looked comparatively smoother at the start, hit 11 fours and a six before going deep off the bowling of Prasidh Krishna. Joe Root (74 not out off 48 balls) continued his golden streak with another half-century – his third in three matches – to pass the 350-run mark. Jos Buttler (41 not out off 13 balls) also got in on the fun as Brar was given a harsh lesson in international cricket, going close to 100 runs. Early on it didn’t help that rookie Prince, who was rolling down the famous Lord’s slope, was struggling with his length when Bethell pulled him for a six over deep mid-wicket and then slapped him into the gap between deep mid-wicket and mid-wicket for a boundary. A rusty Arshdeep Singh failed to hold his line while Prasidh Krishna, despite beating Bethell’s bat on numerous occasions, also bowled the odd free delivery.However, Bethell did well to complete his half-century off 51 balls as England reached their total of 100 in the 16th over. By then the Indian bowlers had already conceded 15 boundaries and the lines were horrendously bad, allowing the opening pair to settle nicely into a rhythm. They conceded a total of 42 boundaries and six sixes.It also proved the fact that all the other Indian pacers look good when the brilliant Bumrah is working at one end and that the effectiveness disappears once he is absent. One saw it in T20Is and now in ODIs too.