Rohit Sharma dismisses retirement talk after Lord’s ODI hundred: ‘Let the noise be there’

India’s batting veteran Rohit Sharma has squashed all talk around his potential retirement after hitting his maiden ODI hundred at Lord’s in the final game against England, which India lost and conceded the series 2-1. Midway through the second ODI, several reports emerged that Rohit had decided to call time on his international career after the BCCI selectors and the team management conveyed their plans of overlooking him on the road to the World Cup next year. Although he didn’t clear the air with any statements, Rohit did so with the bat in his hand, and stunningly so, by smashing a blissful hundred in the losing cause.

"Look, my job is with the bat. Come and play, represent my country, represent the team," Rohit exclusively said to BCCI.TV after the game.

"That's what I've been told to do since I made my debut. So that's what I'm going to do. You know, the noise since I made my debut was there. And till the time I'm going to stay here, it's always going to be there. So it doesn't really matter too much.

"What matters is what I do on the field: try and contribute to the success of the team. That's all my focus is right now. And let the noise be there. You know, [if] there's no noise, there's no fun. My job is inside; their job is outside. So that's how I look at it,” he added.

Chasing a mammoth 388 in the deciding One-Dayer at the iconic Lord’s, India got off to a flyer, with Rohit and captain Shubman Gill adding 147 for the first wicket. Gill’s dismissal brought Virat Kohli to the crease, who hit his second fifty of this ODI series and stitched a crucial 113-run stand with Rohit for the second wicket. That partnership kept India alive in the chase, although the required rate kept mounting, leading to Rohit’s dismissal.

However, before he missed Jacob Bethell’s straight one that smashed into his stumps, Rohit looked formidable with the bat, clobbering 17 boundaries and five sixes. He scored 138 off just 110 balls, striking at over 125.

He showed grit and heart in that knock, compounded by brilliant-looking cricketing shots that won hearts all over.

Gill, who opens with Rohit, said there hasn’t been any communication from his end about announcing his retirement, hinting at Rohit’s stay at the top with the 50-over World Cup close to 15 months away.

"He has not told us anything," Gill said at the press conference. "I think it is all out in the media. But there's not been any discussion like that in the team."