‘Mai mota ho jaunga wapas’: Rohit Sharma refuses to eat victory-celebration cake despite Virat Kohli’s cue to Jaiswal
India put their humiliating Test series whitewash behind them to clinch the ODI series 2-1 against South Africa. Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a century, while senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma scored fluent fifties as India thrashed Temba Bavuma’s side by nine wickets in Vizag on Saturday to seal the decider. India had earlier won the opener in Ranchi on the back of a Kohli century, before another triple-figure knock from the former captain went in vain in Raipur as South Africa levelled the series.
Following the win, the team held a small celebration at their Vizag hotel, where Jaiswal was asked to cut the cake. He and Kohli were called up together, but Kohli insisted the youngster take centre stage. When Jaiswal offered Kohli a slice, the star batter urged him to offer it to Rohit first, given the pair had stitched a commanding century opening stand.
But when Jaiswal turned to Rohit, the batter immediately declined with a laugh, saying, “I am young again (I’ll become fat again),” leaving the room in splits.
Rohit has undergone a major physical transformation during his time away from competitive cricket. In preparation for the Australia tour, and with an eye on securing his place in the 2027 World Cup squad, he undertook an intensive training programme under close supervision of his friend and former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. Rohit also followed a strict diet, even giving up his “favourite meal.” Nayar later revealed that the India skipper lost 11 kilograms in the three months leading up to the tour.
After landing in Bengaluru for the pre-season fitness tests in September, Rohit stayed back for an additional week to work on his batting, simulating sessions based on Australian conditions and facing tall, quick bowlers. He continued his preparations in Mumbai as well, frequently training at Azad Maidan with Nayar.
The work paid off in Australia. Though his dismissal in the opener showed a bit of rust, Rohit responded with a crucial half-century in Adelaide and then capped the series with an unbeaten 121 off 125 balls in Sydney, hitting 13 fours and three sixes. On returning to India, he smashed another fifty and shared a century opening stand with Jaiswal in the series decider against South Africa.
Comments are closed.