Jos Buttler pointed to Rohit Sharma’s belligerent century as proof England are on the right track with their approach despite a fourth successive ODI series defeat.
Rohit had averaged 10.37 in his previous 16 innings across formats but registered a stunning 119 off 90 balls in Cuttack to underpin India’s successful chase of 305 with four wickets and 33 balls to spare.
The India captain cashing in once he got in was a lesson to England, whose top six made scores between 26 and 69 but could not shape the contest as the tourists slipped 2-0 down in the three-match series.
While their batters have been accused of being too reckless on a chastening tour, with England losing the T20s 4-1, Buttler believes Rohit’s 31st ODI ton shows how to play a contemporary ODI innings.
“Credit to Rohit Sharma, I thought he played a fantastic knock, he’s been setting the standard in ODI cricket for a while and it was another great innings here,” Buttler said.
“Any time you’re playing against great players and they play an innings like that, I’m sure players on both sides will be watching and learning.
“He went up and down the gears, absorbed pressure and put a lot of pressure back on. He really showed the modern way of playing 50-over cricket is very dynamic, very aggressive.
“He scored at a rate that just confirms the way we want to play is the right way that you have to play to try to win games of cricket.”