I asked my wife ‘why did you cry’: Rohit Sharma recalls emotional moment after third double century

If scoring double hundreds in ODIs is an art then Rohit Sharma is the master of it. The India opener, who first scored an ODI double century against Australia at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in 2013, has three double tons to his name - the most by any cricketer in ODI cricket. In fact, no other batsman has scored double hundred more than once in ODIs. Naturally, picking the best out of his three double hundreds is a difficult task for Rohit but that is not quite case with his wife Ritika.

Rohit’s wife Ritika could not hold back her emotions and broke down when her husband had reached his third double century in ODIs against Sri Lanka at Mohali in 2017. Remembering that 208-run knock off 153 balls, Rohit said it was the best gift that he could have given to Ritika on their marriage anniversary.

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“As you can see my wife got emotional there, this day was special as it was my anniversary. Probably the best gift I could give it to her while I am on the field, it was quite emotional though,” said Rohit during his appearance in Episode 2 of the ‘Open nets with Mayank’ with teammates Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan.

The videos of Ritika shedding tears after Rohit had reached his 200 had gone viral after the India vs Sri Lanka match. Rohit on Friday revealed that Ritika thought he had twisted his wrist while diving for a run in the 190s.

“At first I had no idea she cried. When I came from the ground, I just asked her why did you (Ritika) cry? So she told me that she thought I (Rohit) twisted my hand when I dived for my 196th run and that was a little worrying factor for her, she got little emotional of because of that I guess,” Rohit added.

In the match, the 32-year-old scored 208 runs with 13 fours and 12 sixes against Sri Lanka. This enabled India to post a score of 392/4 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then went on to win the match by 141 runs.

“To be honest I was going pretty slow, I never thought I will get to a double hundred but once you cross 125, I feel it gets easier for you because bowlers are under pressure. Unless you make a mistake I don’t think you can get out,” said Rohit.

Rohit has scored two double hundreds against Sri Lanka and one against Australia in ODIs. The right-handed batsman is the only cricketer to make three double hundreds in ODI history.

Rohit, Shikhar, and Mayank would have been in action for Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab respectively, had the Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

(With agency inputs)