Rohit Sharma recalls how ingoring MS Dhoni's strategy helped him to score his first double century

Rohit Sharma, the Indian opener was involved in a live Instagram session with Ravichandran Ashwin in his show ‘ReminisceWithAsh’. Rohit is the only batsman on the planet to score three double tons in ODIs. During the interaction, he talked about the one he scored against Australia at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Moreover, he also revealed the important advice he received from MS Dhoni.

On November 2, 2013, Rohit entered his name in the record books as he became the third player after Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag to score a double ton in the history of ODI cricket. The right-handed batsman teared up Australia’s bowling unit apart on the back of his dominant hitting.

Rohit scored 209 runs off 158 balls studded with 12 fours and 16 sixes. In that match, he stitched some brilliant partnerships with Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni as well.

Rohit Sharma reflects on his iconic knock against Australia

In the live session, Indian ‘Hitman’ revealed that he never had anything in his mind of scoring a double century. The 33-year-old said that at that time he just wanted to bat and score runs for his team.

“I never thought I would score a double hundred. I just wanted to bat.. It rained a bit and them along with Shikhar, remained not out till the break. Soon Shikhar got out and Virat was run out as well. So I took over the responsibility,” Rohit Sharma told Ravichandran Ashwin in Live Instagram interaction.

As per Rohit, he took the responsibility and he had a great partnership with Suresh Raina. However, he felt that his stand with MS Dhoni was a vital one. Rohit recited that the former Indian skipper told him to play till the end instead of taking any chances. In that game, Rohit stitched a quick partnership of 62 runs off 38 balls with Dhoni.

“Suresh and I also shared a good partnership but lost Yuvi early. I batted with MS Dhoni till the 48th over. During the partnership, he kept on talking and discussing things with me. He said, ‘You are the set batsman and we want you to bat till the 50th over and I will be the one who takes chances’,” said Rohit about his partnership with Dhoni.

“He was telling me ‘you’re the set batsman and I want you to bat till the 48th, 49th of 50th over, because you can hit any bowler anywhere you want. So let me take chances, you just take a backseat, take singles, knock the ball in the gaps, and find the odd boundary if you can’,” Rohit further said.

And I just thought ‘no yaar, I’m seeing the ball really well and I might as well put pressure on the bowlers right here, right now’. Then I decided to just go after the bowlers. And I remember hitting Xavier Doherty for four sixes in an over,” he added.