Ranchi, October 20: Rohit Sharma raced to his maiden double hundred in Test cricket on Sunday (October 20) against South Africa. Rohit achieved the feat on the second day of the third Test against the Proteas at the JSCA International stadium here.
Since returning to Test cricket in the opener's avatar, Rohit has been in brilliant touch, cracking twin hundreds in the first Test at Visakhapatnam. Rohit already has three double hundreds in ODI cricket. Rohit made the occasion memorable too as he completed 200 with a 6 off Lungi Ngidi, just as he reached 100 with a 6 off Dean Piedt.
India's batting coach Vikram Rathour attributed Rohit's run to the mental adjustments he made.
Most Runs in ICC Test Championship ~
— Rohit Sharma FC (@Ro45FC) October 20, 2019
774 - Steve Smith
500* - Rohit Sharma
487 - Ajinkya Rahane
453 - Virat Kohli
441 - Ben Stokes
420 - Mayank Agarwal
4 out of Top 6 are Indian. India dominanting ICC TC #INDvSA #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/4lnJTHVsxu
"He is such an experienced player. I don't think you need to change anything with his technique. The only adjustment I think he had to make was his game plans," said Rathour.
"I always believed he is too good a player not to be playing in any format. It was a good call to make him to open. With the amount of runs he has scored, he has settled the issue for the time being," Rathour added.
"Somebody of his experience and the kind of cricket he plays, if he starts coming good top of the order, it changes everything for the Indian team, even when you're touring," he said.
Take a bow, HITMAN 💯💯
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 20, 2019
An absolutely sensational innings from @ImRo45 as he brings up his double ton here in Ranchi. pic.twitter.com/zqLCCfQzqX
Rohit had looked tentative early in his innings and given LBW on seven by umpire Richard Illingworth, but survived following a successful review.
"In Tests, you need to play through those tough spells that you will get. I think he's doing that well in this series. Once he's set, he's a phenomenal player, we all know that he can really punish you," said Rathour.
Highest averages in Tests at home:
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) October 20, 2019
99.84 - Rohit Sharma
98.22 - Don Bradman#IndvSA
Rohit underlined the words of Rathour as he scored at a strike rate of over 83 during the course of his double hundred. It was just fitting that Rohit played that gem of an innings on the birthday of the original maverick - Virender Sehwag.