Batting great Rohit Sharma, who is auditioning for his place in India’s ODI World Cup squad along with Virat Kohli, has been declared ineligible by fans as he failed to convert his back-to-back starts into solid scores.
India started their New Zealand series with a brilliant performance in Vadodara, where all the players made important contributions and took an early lead in the series by winning the match while chasing the target of 301 runs.
The second India vs New Zealand match shifted to another city in Gujarat, as India will take on the Blackcaps at the Niranjan Shah Stadium. The venue provided great balance for batting and bowling, with the New Zealand captain winning the toss and sending the Indians in to bat first.
Rohit Sharma out after slow start in Rajkot
As soon as India were asked to bat first, Rohit Sharma opened the innings along with newly appointed captain Shubman Gill, who is considered to be the future of Indian cricket. Opening the innings, Rohit Sharma needed to take advantage of this opportunity after missing it in Vadodara.
Rohit, who had a very slow start against Kyle Jamieson, scored his first run on the 11th ball of the innings. He then slowly picked up his pace and hit a few fours, which gave him another solid start and laid the foundation for a good innings.
After playing several dot balls, especially against the budding spinner, Rohit lost his patience and decided to clear the fence while moving down the track against Christian Clarke and could not time the cross seamer with perfection, eventually being caught at deep cover by Will Young.
Rohit Sharma slipped to third place in ICC ODI rankings
Before the start of the second ODI in Rajkot, the number one batsman Rohit Sharma. Australia, who held the number one position in the ICC ODI rankings for a long time, suffered a sudden decline as their rivals soon overtook them.
Virat Kohli’s inning of 93 runs in the last game helped him regain the top spot, as he was at the second position and with the huge increase in rating points, he has now taken the top spot. New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell also scored 84 runs in Vadodara, taking him ahead of Rohit.
Rohit is now third in the ICC ODI batting rankings with 775 points and missed the chance to make a comeback this time too.
“This way, he will be dropped before 2027” – Indian fans predict Rohit Sharma’s future before the World Cup
It is back to its default setting after 2 series. nothing new. I am used to it.
– RO_45 (@okokok1456789) 14 January 2026
It’s his every time… he bowls wickets like a jerk.
And then the idiots come, shouting selflessly
– Harish Jadhav (@_HarishJadhav) 14 January 2026
Why play that shot man There was no need for that
– Woo…aaaa (@kjl_pwr_29) 14 January 2026
Retirement Hi Lele Yaar, this is what this man does now, whenever the hopes of a century are gone, this will not work brother, nor can this WC play with this form.
– Blood Saryuparin (@saryuparin_42) 14 January 2026
This way they will be removed before 2027
– ŜĐ⁴⁵ (@SND1989611) 14 January 2026
Strike Rate Summary
– Marcus (@MARCUS907935) 14 January 2026
Rohit started playing like Kohli and Kohli started playing like Rohit
– Dhruv (@joshidhruv523) 14 January 2026
Rohit Sharma is the weakest part of our ODI team. I think he doesn’t know what is the difference between ODI and T20.
If Rohit’s condition continues like this then he may also be out of the ODI World Cup team. pic.twitter.com/ZHPnBxDZKn
-` (@kohlihood) 14 January 2026
Also Read: The King is back! Virat Kohli ends Rohit Sharma’s reign at the top of ICC ODI rankings
