[WATCH] Rohit Sharma celebrates 59th ODI fifty on his return during AUS vs IND 2nd ODI in Adelaide

Rohit Sharma, just like Virat Kohli, was under pressure coming into the three-match ODI series against Australia down under. He didn’t enjoy a great time in the middle during the opening clash at the Optus Stadium in Perth as he was squared up with the outside edge into the hands of the slip fielder. But he had a chance to turn the tables in the second ODI in Adelaide.

Sharma got his first boundary of the second fixture against Mitchell Starc. He used his whippy wrists to hoick it away wide of the square leg to his left for a boundary. However, the veteran had an incredibly tough time against Josh Hazlewood and survived the two review systems to stay in the middle.

Once he was set, the firecrackers started to come. His first huge shot came on the 19th over. On the first ball of the over, the right-handed batter spotted the short ball early and pulled it over the deep backward square leg region for a six. On the third ball, he hoicked it over the deep square leg for the same short off the front foot.

Watch: Rohit Sharma notches relieving half-century during AUS vs IND 2nd ODI

When Mitchell Marsh brought the spinner, Adam Zampa, into the attack, Sharma went low and swept it into the gap through the backward square leg for another boundary. With a single on the 22nd over, the veteran celebrated his 59th half-century in the format. This was his slowest fifty of the format since 2015.

Since the start of 2022, the right-handed opener has celebrated 19 scores over 50, which is only the second time he reached the mark at a strike rate of under 100. But Rohit started to shift gears as he played a lovely inside-out shot for a lofted drive over the extra cover region.

Thanks to the 100-run stand between Rohit and Shreyas Iyer for the third wicket, the Blue Brigade pushed their way to 117/2 in 27 overs at a run rate of 4.34.