“I can’t believe” - Nasser Hussain surprised to see Rohit Sharma as No.1 ODI batter

Former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain was surprised to see the former Indian captain Rohit Sharma emerge as the No.1 ODI batter for the first time after the three-match series against Australia Down Under. 

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While he scored a 72-run knock against Australia in the Adelaide ODI, he stepped up with an unbeaten 121-run knock in the Sydney ODI to propel India to a consolation win in the third ODI and won the player of the series award. 

For the unversed, Rohit has been constantly featuring inside the top 10 rankings in this particular format, but has never achieved the pole position earlier. Nasser Hussain heaped praise on the opening batter and termed him a fabulous white-ball cricketer.

“I can’t believe it, to be honest. I heard he [Rohit Sharma] went to number one and my first question was- when has he been at number one before? And someone said it’s the first time. I mean, he’s been around forever; he’s got three double hundreds in ODI cricket. There must have been some good white players, one-day players in the last 15 years. Fabulous white-ball cricketer, fabulous player, and well done to him. He deserves to be number 1 in the world," Hussain told ICC.

“He’s got all the range of shots. He goes big, like I said, three double hundreds. He's not just interested in getting 20s and 30s. Although, recently obviously he's upped his strike rate, especially in the powerplay,” he added.

Rohit has already announced retirements from the longest and shortest formats of the game. However, he is continuing to play the 50-over format with an eye on the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

“He tried to set the tone and change the culture of the team when he was captain, and he did that and did that seriously well. He just got all the shots, you can pitch it up and you get driven down the ground. The bowlers just drag their length back a little bit and he's one of the great pullers in the modern game and he's a fabulous player of spin as well and hunger for the game,” he concluded.

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