No amounts of superlatives are enough to describe this knock. It was simply mind-boggling! Many forget the backdrop though. Rohit was injured on the tour to England and had missed quite a few games. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane had filled in for him and had done a very good job. Rohit was recalled in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka with Shikhar Dhawan taking a break. He was desperate to reclaim his spot at the top and Lady Luck smiled on him when he was dropped on four in the deep. That dropped catch would go on to cost Sri Lanka 260 runs. Starting in a classy way, Rohit eased to a run-a-ball ton. What was interesting about this knock was the way he paced it. His first fifty came off 72 balls, he got to his ton in 100 and thereafter it was carnage. Rohit drove, pulled, slogged and made merry as the Sri Lankans looked hapless. On 264, he had the opportunity to break Ali Brown’s record for the highest List A score of 268, but holed out to the deep off the last ball of the innings.

Even the first game of the IPL 2015 was lit up by Rohit’s brilliance as his innings of 98 not out helped Mumbai Indians put up a good total. That his team wasn’t able to defend it shouldn’t take anything away from his classy effort. Mumbai Indians had been reduced to 37 for three in the sixth over and Rohit had kept them together with his solid effort. Again, the timing of this innings was remarkable. When Mumbai needed calm against the likes of Narine and Shakib, Rohit kept calm. He got his fifty in 46 balls but then sensed the opportunity to attack. Off his next 19 balls, he hit 48 runs, driving, lofting, sweeping — playing all the shots in the book. He could have gotten his second IPL ton at the Eden Gardens but missed out in the final over.