'Whatever the captain and coach are saying...' - Rohit Sharma sends explosive message to India teammates

Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team delivered a brilliant performance in the second ODI of the three-match series against Jos Buttler-led England National Cricket Team.

The Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team beat the visitors by 4 wickets with 33 balls remaining at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday, February 9.

Also Read: Watch: Liam Livingstone turns Virat Kohli, brutally shoulder-bumps Axar Patel in IND vs ENG 2nd ODI

Rohit Sharma leads India from the front

After being invited to bowl first, the home team bundled out England for 304 runs. It was a combined bowling effort from the Indian team, as only Axar Patel went wicketless while the rest of the bowlers picked at least one wicket each.

Ravindra Jadeja was the top performer as he bowled all 10 overs and bagged 3 wickets. Also, he gave away just 35 runs in his full quota of overs.

Chasing the target, Rohit Sharma smashed a sensational ton, and he was well supported by Shubman Gill, who hit a classy fifty. The rest of the job was done by KL Rahul, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.

It was good, really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team - Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma won the Player of the Match award and speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, he spoke in detail about his innings. Rohit Sharma elaborated:

"It was good, really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team. Important game, series on the line. I broke it into pieces how I wanted to bat. It's a format that is longer than T20 cricket and a lot shorter than Tests," Rohit Sharma added.

"Still, you need to assess and bat according to the situation. I wanted to stay focused and bat as deep as possible. Looking at the pitch when you play on black soil, the pitch tends to skid on a bit so it's important that you show the full face of the bat."

Rohit Sharma further showered rich praise on Shubman Gill and labeled him as a 'very, very classy' player. He said:

"Then they were trying to bowl into the body and not give room so I prepared my plan as well. I accessed the gaps and obviously, I got good support from Gill and then Shreyas. We enjoy batting with each other, Gill is a very very classy player. I have seen him from close quarters and he doesn't get overawed by the situation. The numbers are there as well if I'm not wrong."

Rohit further spoke about the importance of middle overs and highlighted how controlling those overs becomes very important. He also urged his teammates to keep getting better by following the right process and listening to the captain and coach.

"It's quite important, the game can go either side. If you manage and squeeze in the middle overs, it helps you not to worry at the death. In both the game, even in Nagpur, we squeezed in the middle overs and even here we squeezed in the middle overs. When you take wickets in the middle overs, you can contain the opposition," Rohit Sharma said.

"We want to keep getting better as a team. I said after the last match as well, we want to get better as a team and as players. As long guys are clear what they are supposed to do and whatever the captain and coach is saying, if they execute it then there's not much to think about."

India Dominated In The Previous ODI vs England As Well

India started off the ODI series against the Three Lions with a dominant 4-wicket win in Nagpur as they chased down a target of 249 with 68 balls to spare.

Winning the toss and batting first, England posted a total of 248 runs on the board as the Indian bowling unit, led by Ravindra Jadeja (3/26) and debutant Harshit Rana (3/53), restricted the visitors to a low score. Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav also chipped in with key wickets to wrap up the English innings.

During the chase, India started with a huge setback as Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) and Rohit Sharma (2) got dismissed early, leaving the hosts at 19/2.

However, a brilliant counterattack innings from Shreyas Iyer (59 off 36) steadied the ship, followed by a match-winning partnership between Shubman Gill (87 off 96) and Axar Patel (52 off 47). The duo stitched together a 108-run stand to seal the game for India.

Notably, India did lose a few late wickets, including Gill missing out on a century, but Hardik Pandya (9*) and Jadeja (12*) guided the team home comfortably to take a 1-0lead in the series.