Twitter Reactions: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul light up Vizag with crafty tons

After losing the first ODI against the West Indies in Chennai, India needed to post a huge total on the board in the must-win game in Vizag. And their openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have responded to the call superbly putting their hand up when it mattered the most. The duo smacked their respective tons pummelling the opposition bowling with disdain and they have put India on course for a mammoth score.

It started with the Caribbean skipper Kieron Pollard winning the toss and opting to field much like he did in the series opener. India benched Shivam Dube and brought in Shardul Thakur to strengthen their bowling attack for the must-win. But before that, they needed to get a good start from Rahul and Rohit. And they didn’t disappoint.

Both of them took their time early on and gave due respect to the bowling. KL Rahul was the first one to open his arms as he played some delightful cover drives to leave the crowd in his awe. There were a few calling problems between them while running between the wickets and Rohit was almost run-out at one stage too. But West Indies’ lack of game awareness reprieved him and India’s vice-captain made them pay.

Rahul slows down even as Rohit Sharma takes over

After getting off to a quickfire start, KL Rahul slowed down a bit. But his understanding with Rohit Sharma was such that, the latter took off exceptionally. Rohit had started to hit every ball in his zone out of the ground. During the same period, Roston Chase created a chance as the batsman top-edged a slog sweep. However, much to the crowd’s delight, Shimron Hetmyer dropped Rohit when on 70.

Needless to say, Rohit Sharma carried on and went on to notch up his 28th ODI century. He got into the 90s with a brilliant six and a four down the ground off Khary Pierre and then calmly took a single to reach the three-figure. Rohit also became the first player ever to score 10 international centuries in a calendar year.

Meanwhile, Rahul was struggling to hit big shots but he didn’t throw his wicket away and continued to rotate the strike. However, he too got to his third ODI century with a superb boundary down the leg-side. The two added 227 runs for the opening wicket before Rahul got out to Alzarri Joseph and to everyone’s shock, Virat Kohli also bagged a golden duck. India though will be looking to score around 350 to put a stiff challenge in front of the visitors.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: