- By Himanshu Badola
- Thu, 18 Jan 2024 06:37 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
India vs Afghanistan 3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma continues to shine in Idia colors as captain as he reaches yet another milestone in his stellar career after India's win over Afghanistan in the final match of the series.
India defeated Afghanistan in the Super Over in the third T20I match at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, January 17.
While the hosts clinched the series 3-0, Rohit surpassed MS Dhoni's record of most T20I wins as Indian captain as he gears up for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
The match witnessed so much drama as the result was only made possible after the two Super Overs with Ravi Bishnoi putting the final nail in the coffin.
Rohit has now 42 wins as skipper in the shortest format in just 55 matches whereas Dhoni had 41 victories to his name as Indian captain.
It is to be noted that, Rohit made his return to the shortest format after a long period, having last played a T20I game in the T20 World Cup 2022.
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His return wasn't a pleasing one as the opening batter registered two ducks in the first two matches.
However, he had saved the best for the final match and put up a show with the bat to help his team whitewash the visitors.
Rohit smashed his fifth T20I century, bailing the team out of trouble and taking the total to 212/4 in their 20 overs.
He put up a remarkable partnership of 190 runs for the fifth wicket with Rinku Singh, what proved to be an incredible recovery from a stage where the hosts were struggling for 22/4.
However, Afghanistan were brilliant too with the bat, and with the help of late cameos from Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib, they managed to level the score, forcing the game to go into the Super Over.
The first Super Over was also tied as both the teams scored 16 runs each before Bishnoi took two wickets in the second over to hand over his team a famous win
"I don't remember when was the last time this happened. I think I batted 3 times in one of the IPL games. Creating the partnership was important and we (Rinku and I) kept talking to each other to not lose that intent in big games and it was a good game for us to be in, the pressure was there and was important to bat long and deep and not compromise on the intent we want to show," Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
He also went on to praise Rinku Singh who provided crucial support to Rohit and scored his second T20I half-century.
"The last couple of series that he played, he showed what he can do with the bat. Very calm and knows his strength pretty well. He is coming off age and doing what is expected of him and he has done really well for India. Augurs well for the team moving forward, wanted someone like that at the backend and we know what he has done in the IPL and he has carried that to the Indian colors as well," he added.