He will certainly get 250 today: when Ms. Dhoni’s prediction came true before the 264th Rohit Sharma vs SL
On November 13, 2014, hitman Rohit Sharma scored a stunning victory over Sri Lanka in an ODI match in Kolkata. For the uninitiated, Dhoni predicted that Rohit would score more than 250 points during the Indian innings.
MS Dhoni has a brilliant knack for reading the game and using his players as per their own strengths and weaknesses. While there are several such examples of his on-field presence and tactics, he has time and again made proper use of his resources and made players more confident in their own abilities.
One fine example of Dhoni grooming his players can be seen in how he, along with the then team management, decided to promote Rohit Sharma as a limited-overs opener. The rest, as they say, is history as Hitman remains one of the finest hitters in white-ball cricket, with over 9,000 ODI runs and close to 3,000 runs in the shortest format.
Rohit was promoted as an opener in the 2013 Champions Trophy and in the same year, he slammed his first double ton in the 50-over format. On November 13, 2014, the current limited-overs vice-captain brought up his second double ton (264), which remains the highest individual score by a batsman in the format.
Rohit’s unbeaten 264, off 173 balls, came in the fourth and penultimate ODI of the India-Sri Lanka home series, where the Men in Blue were led by Virat Kohli. Back then, Dhoni was rested for the ODIs ahead of the gruelling Australia tour and the 2015 ODI World Cup.
While Dhoni often remains inactive on social media platforms, he was watching the proceedings from off the field and had predicted for Rohit to score 250 while the Indian innings was underway.
Dhoni had tweeted, “If Rohit doesn’t get out he will certainly get 250 today”
Rohit remained unbeaten on 264, an innings that was laced with 33 fours and 9 sixes at a strike rate of 152.60. It is to be noted that Rohit was playing his first game of the ODI series after recovering from an injury, hence, his mammoth knock made everyone take notice of him and applaud his temperament.
Since then, Rohit has slammed one more double ton (also coming versus Sri Lanka in late 2017) and is the only Indian with four centuries in T20Is. After the WTC final versus New Zealand, Rohit will next be seen in action in India’s five Tests versus England in the UK whereas Dhoni will take the cricket field during the second phase of IPL 2021, from September 19-October 15 in the UAE.
