Adelaide [Australia], October 23 (ANI): Former Indian batter Mohammed Kaif hailed Rohit Sharma for his fine half-century during the second ODI against Australia at Adelaide Oval, saying that the batter has shown 'he is not going anywhere' and the knock will give him plenty of confidence.

While Virat Kohli failed and succumbed to his second-successive duck, Rohit made up for the dissapointment with a fine 97-ball 73, consisting of seven fours and two sixes, with the two maximums being his trademark pull shots.

This knock came at a very crucial point in Rohit's career. The 'Hitman', who would be 40 by the time the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027 comes, is playing under Shubman Gill's captaincy and for the first time in a long while, would not be a 100 per cent certainty for every series perhaps, with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal hot on his heels with consistent Test performances and an impressive List-A cricket record with a 52-plus average and five centuries, seven fifties in 33 games.

Before the game, several visuals from India's practice session had emerged, with the chief selector Ajit Agarkar having a chat with Jaiswal. This led to speculation that a couple more failures in this series could mark the end of Rohit's ODI career. But the 'Hitman', who started off ugly and got beaten several times, grinded it out at Adelaide and hit his first international fifty at the iconic venue.

Taking to X, Kaif said, 'Too much social media chatter about his future, tough pitch, world class pacers operating, Gill and Kohli out cheaply... Despite all that Rohit plays a very important inning for India and his career. This 73 at Adelaide will give him a lot of confidence. Rohit shows he isn't' going anywhere.'

https://x.com/MohammadKaif/status/1981260682273366304

During the match, he surpassed former captain Sourav Ganguly to become India's third-highest run-getter in ODIs. Now in 275 ODIs and 267 innings, Rohit has scored 11,249 runs at an average of 48.69, with 32 centuries and 59 fifties and a best score of 264. He has overtaken Ganguly, who made 11,121 runs in 308 matches at an average of 40.95, with 22 centuries and 71 fifties.

At the top is Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs in 463 matches with 49 centuries), followed by Virat Kohli (14,181 runs in 304 games with 51 centuries).

Also, he became the first Indian to smash 1,000 runs against Australia in Australia. In 21 ODI matches, Hitman has slammed 1071 against Australia on their home soil, at an average of 56.36 and a strike rate of 89.32, including four hundreds and three fifties, with a best score of 171*.

Coming to the match, Australia, leading by 1-0, put India to bat first. Rohit and Shubman Gill started off cautiously, but Xaiver Bartlett (3/39) reduced India to 17/2, with quick wickets of Gill (9) and Virat (0).

Rohit put on an innings-saving 118-run stand with vice-captain Shreyas Iyer (61 in 77 balls, with seven fours). Axar also played a vital 44 in 41 balls, with five fours, continuing his fine run at number five. However, Adam Zampa (4/60) reduced India to 226/8.

A final flourish from Harshit Rana (24* in 18 balls, with three fours) and Arshdeep Singh (13) saw them add 37 runs for the ninth wicket and India ended their innings at 264/9. (ANI)