Rohit signs fan’s jersey after arriving in Mumbai following memorable ODI series in Australia

MUMBAI: India’s veteran swashbuckler Rohit Sharma arrived in Mumbai on Monday evening following the conclusion of his defining three-match ODI tour of Australia. After Rohit stepped out of the Mumbai airport, fans quickly surrounded him for selfies and autographs.

The 38-year-old wore a white cap, black shades, and a t-shirt paired with blue trousers. A fan, wearing a white T-shirt with Rohit’s picture, was waiting near the former skipper’s car. Rohit saw him, stopped by to sign his t-shirt, and even paused for a selfie with a fan before driving away.

The three ODIs in Australia were a story of Rohit’s immense grit, determination, and match-winning abilities. He overcame a rusty single-digit score on Perth’s green top to grinding it out to produce a valuable 97-ball 73 in Adelaide to firing a stormy 121* in 125 balls at Sydney, The ‘Hitman’ experienced it all in this 202-run series and showed the world that he portrays his calibre to be on the plane to South Africa for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.

“With the bat, the partnership between Shubman and Rohit was important. The partnership between Rohit and Virat was outstanding and clinical as well. Special mention to Rohit, another hundred, outstanding and most importantly, you finished it off. Virat as well. It was important from the team’s point of view how clinical we could be in these cases, and we were very good,” Gambhir said while addressing the team in the dressing room following India’s 9-wicket win in the third ODI in Sydney on Saturday.

Adrian Le Roux, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, handed the ‘Impact Player of the Series’ medal to Rohit, who soaked in the applause from his teammates. Rohit, who hammered his 33rd ODI ton at the Sydney Cricket Ground, explained the approach he adopted with his long-time compatriot Virat Kohli at the other end.

“I enjoy playing in Australia. It was the perfect day, again, to get a big one and get the team through. I wanted to bat as deep as possible and see how far we could take the game. Sometimes you can think so many things, but it doesn’t come off. But today was the day when I thought, okay, this is what I have to do. It just perfectly fit into my plan. When you play in Australia, you’ve got to plan and play. So all the planning, all the understanding that I had from the previous experience, I used it,” Rohit said in a video posted by the BCCI. (ANI)