Find out what legendary Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar had to say about Rohit Sharma after century against Aussies

Tue Jan 21 21:33:05 IST 2020

The last One Day International series against Australia saw alot of varieties in the Indian squad. A returning Shikhar Dhawan opening up, while the discovery of KL Rahul as Team India’s potential primary choice for wicket keeping in the near future. But, what remains constant is Rohit Sharma, and his blistering knocks in the opening overs.

The series finale saw a mouth watering century from the Mumbaiker, and the most bizarre yet honouring compliment comes straight from the one and only Shoaib Akhtar!

Image Courtesy: ANI/ESPNcricinfo

While the Aussie hit man Steve Smith put up a swashbuckling 131-off-132 in the first innings, Kohli and his squad chased down the target of 287 with 7 wickets in hand. While the skipper himself impressed with a score of 89, it was Rohit Sharma’s ton which undoubtedly sealed the victory for the hosts at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

Following the win, Pakistan’s legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar shed praise on Sharma. The 44 year old, who is now running a YouTube channel by his name, uploaded a video shortly after India’s victory, commemorating the stormy performance from his neighbouring cricketer in Bengaluru.

Akhtar didn’t hold back on hailing Sharma in the video:“Everything becomes easy for him, it comes very naturally to him. At a place like M Chinnaswamy, where it is conducive for batting, then Rohit Sharma becomes very ruthless. Usne maar maar ke bharta nikaal dia bowlers ka (He beat the bowlers to a pulp).”

Starting the chase alongside Rahul, Sharma was absolutely ruthless against the Aussie bowling squad, as the 32 year old scored eight boundaries and six over boundaries in his knock. Akhtar added that Sharma was reminding him of the iconic Sachin Tendulkar that he himself faced numerous times on the 22 yards during his career.

The former Pakistani international continued: “He went after Zampa, went after Mitchell Starc. The cut shot he hit was like the one Sachin hit me. Australia were annihilated today.”

See the whole video here-

Rohit Sharma is holding the no. 2 spot in ICC’s ODI batting rankings with a rating of 868, closely behind Kohli, who is leading the list with 886 ratings.