Away from the bell and egg-and-bacon ties, Rohit keeps his England tradition alive

TimesofIndia.com in London: Eight years ago, Rohit Sharma summed himself up with a line that now feels almost prophetic: "Throw me to the wolves and I come back leading the pack." As retirement speculation engulfed him ahead of the Lord's ODI, the 39-year-old responded exactly as that quote promised, rising above the chatter with an innings that dismissed every question about his future.On Sunday, Lord's was painted in blue for the third ODI between India and England. There are plenty of traditions that define this iconic venue: the golden-and-red-striped ties, aka the egg-and-bacon tie; the five-minute bell, rung by Yuvraj Singh on this occasion; a walk through the Long Room with the Honours Board on display and the watchful presence of Father Time. Away from all this stood Rohit Sharma. He had been welcomed during the nets session a day prior with plenty of cheers, and it continued as the team arrived for the series decider.Over the last few days, the focus was squarely on the 39-year-old. The third and final ODI was billed as his last. Some reports claimed his parents were in attendance for this milestone. Retirement rumours were circulating. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia needed to officially come out and deny that it was going to be Rohit's last. Yet, it didn't stop the rumour mill from working overtime.As for Rohit, he looked completely at ease in his own skin."Look, my job is with the bat. Come and play, represent my country, represent the team. That's what I've been told to do since my debut, and that's what I'm going to do. The noise, since I made my debut, has been there. And till the time I'm going to stay here, it is 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. If there's no noise, there's no fun. My job is inside, their job is outside. That's how I look at it," he told BCCI.tv after the match.And on the field, Rohit did what he's done before in this part of the world.Opening alongside Shubman Gill with a massive 388 runs to chase, Rohit did what he's been doing effortlessly over the past two decades. He toyed with the bowlers while pacing his innings perfectly. A near-run-a-ball 50 became an 84-ball century as the accelerator was pressed after the 70-run mark. The right-hander switched gears swiftly to jump from 69 off 69 to 121 off 100, scoring 52 runs off 31 balls.I think the way Rohit bhai paced his innings was outstanding"I think the way Rohit bhai paced his innings was outstanding," skipper Shubman Gill said later. "During the Powerplay, we spoke about whether we should go after the bowling or not, but we know it's not easy to attack against the new ball. The way he paced his innings and then accelerated was exceptional. Once he got into the 60s and 70s, it was truly a treat to watch," he added.Even as Rohit limped while completing singles, with the 30% humidity playing its part, he chose to tonk the bowlers rather than deal in singles and doubles with Virat Kohli at the other end. That 121 off 100 became 132 off 107 following twin boundaries in a Sam Curran over, including a cracking shot towards deep extra cover. Two balls later, Jacob Bethell could only look towards cow corner as Rohit sent the ball flying for a maximum, his fifth of the day. One could see the hapless expression on Bethell's face. It wasn't a bad ball. It was just bowled to an in-form Rohit, who has done this many a time before.The England bowler did get his revenge a ball later as Rohit went for a sweep, missed, and the ball found his pads before crashing into the stumps for a lucky dismissal.Rohit took in the adulation and appreciation of the tens of thousands in attendance. His 34th ODI century. His eighth in England. And the first by an Indian at Lord's. All added to his resume. His impressive and seemingly yet-to-be-finished resume.The other half of the famous RoKo, Virat Kohli, kept the chase alive. The chasemaster believed even as Rohit walked off after their 113-run stand, long after the duo, playing their 400th match together, had shared a massive hug following Rohit's ton. India needed 128 from 68 balls. Was a miracle, a la NatWest 2002, possible?We played our entire career together, so it was nice to have him in the middle. We've had a lot of partnerships. It's always fun batting together. We understand each other so well.Kohli tried his utmost. A tossed-up Will Jacks delivery allowed the 37-year-old to dance down the track and send it sailing over the bowler's head for a maximum. Still with a job to finish, Kohli barely lifted his bat in acknowledgement of his 46-ball fifty, his first at Lord's. Two balls later, Kohli used his wrists to send the ball over deep backward square leg for yet another six.In between, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer came and went. Kohli stood in the middle, and a colleague chimed in, "lone warrior again." The gladiator of the Indian team then went after Jacob Bethell, hitting him for a straight six.But the knock, and the chase, were effectively over after Sam Curran got rid of Kohli for 74 off 60 balls, laced with four fours and three sixes. Kohli, as always, was frustrated that he couldn't get the job done and couldn't steer the team past the finish line.With India losing the bilateral ODI series 1-2, having been thrashed 0-2 and 0-4 by Ireland and England, respectively, in the T20Is, there will be plenty for the BCCI hierarchy to assess. But for RoKo, who continue to bring thousands into stadiums and millions to their TV sets, the road is not over."We played our entire career together, so it was nice to have him in the middle. We've had a lot of partnerships. It's always fun batting together. We understand each other so well. It's always nice in the middle, bouncing off ideas and trying to see what we can do. So there was a lot of conversation going on while we were batting," Rohit said about Kohli and their time together in the middle at Lord's.Unless something drastic happens, that time in the middle will continue for at least one more series. Kohli and Rohit had contrasting report cards from this series in their bid to be in South Africa for the 2027 ODI World Cup. While Kohli scored 144 runs from three matches, bouncing back after a blip at Edgbaston, Rohit raced away to 175 runs in the series following his century at Lord's.As for Rohit's retirement rumours and the end of his 19-year ODI career, the snooze button can be swiftly pressed. "He's not told us anything. I think it's all out in the media, but there's not been any discussion like that in the team," skipper Shubman Gill said in the post-match press conference.India's next ODI assignment is in September against the West Indies, with more in store in New Zealand in November and against Sri Lanka in December.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.