India’s Rohit Sharma (PTI Photo)
Rohit Sharma may have missed out on a deserved century in the third ODI against the West Indies, but his 92-run knock once again underlined why experience could be one of India’s biggest assets heading into the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Rohit scored just 20 runs from his first 40 balls before accelerating dramatically, eventually finishing with 92 off 85 deliveries. If you take Rohit Sharma, when he saw the two early wickets fall, if you see he was on 20 for the first 40 balls with a 50 strike rate. Karthik believes that willingness to respect the conditions and wait for the right opportunity is precisely the kind of experience India could need when they travel to South Africa for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Because he knew he could trust himself and back it up and get those runs quickly,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz, that was.
Rohit’s ability to change gears according to the demands of the situation was particularly impressive given the quality of the West Indies bowling attack. With India rocked by the early dismissals of captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, Rohit resisted the temptation to attack and instead absorbed the pressure before switching gears later in his innings. His measured approach drew high praise from former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik , who believes the knock showed exactly why Rohit will remain crucial for India in South Africa. He joined Ruturaj Gaikwad to steady the innings and took his time against a disciplined West Indies attack. Karthik highlighted that innings progression as the perfect example of how experience allows a batter to assess the situation rather than panic. “The beauty of having experience is that they have seen this situation a lot before. Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph kept the pressure on early, forcing the veteran opener to play a more cautious role.