World Cup: Rohit Sharma leads from the front for India; bags second 'Man of the Match award' in this tournament

India skipper Rohit Sharma once again played a key role in his team's emphatic 100-run win over defending champions England with a dogged 87. Rohit Sharma was adjudged as the Player of the Match.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): India skipper Rohit Sharma once again led from the front as the Men in Blue decimated defending champions England by 100 runs in the league stage match of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 here on Sunday.

On a challenging pitch, Nagpur-born Rohit Sharma, who is a seasoned campaigner, hit a stroke-filled 87 to guide India to a respectable 229/9 against England. The Indian bowlers then dished out a splendid show to wrap up England for a meagre 129 and script a memorable win for the team. The Indian Juggernaut continued as they almost sealed a spot in the semi-finals by registering their sixth win on the trot.

• Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with a spectacular 87(101) as he receives the Player of the Match award 🏆#TeamIndia register a 100-run win over England in Lucknow 👏👏
  
  Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/etXYwuCQKP#CWC23 | #MenInBlue | #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/VnielCg1tj

  — BCCI (@BCCI) October 29, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with a spectacular 87(101) as he receives the Player of the Match award 🏆#TeamIndia register a 100-run win over England in Lucknow 👏👏
  
  Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/etXYwuCQKP#CWC23 | #MenInBlue | #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/VnielCg1tj

  — BCCI (@BCCI) October 29, 2023

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  Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with a spectacular 87(101) as he receives the Player of the Match award 🏆#TeamIndia register a 100-run win over England in Lucknow 👏👏
  
  Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/etXYwuCQKP#CWC23 | #MenInBlue | #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/VnielCg1tj

  — BCCI (@BCCI) October 29, 2023

For his stupendous effort, Rohit was awarded the Player of the Match award, his second in as many as six games in this tournament. The opener from Mumbai also won his seventh Man of the Match Award in ODI World Cups and is now just two behind to equal the great Sachin Tendulkar, who is sitting at the top with nine Man of Match Awards in the history of ODI World Cups.

Rohit also now as a captain has two Man of the Match Awards, while only one Man of the Match award has been awarded to all other captains in the tournament. This shows the sheer dominance by Rohit, who has pummeled Opposition attacks to submission. Rohit has bagged his first Man of the Match Award in this tournament after his match-winning 131 against Afghanistan at the Kotla in New Delhi.

The Man of the Match Award on Sunday night would have been even sweeter for Rohit, as he got in his 100th international match as a captain. Barring his failure in the opening game against Australia at the Chepauk, Rohit Sharma has provided aggressive starts to the team.

Rohit Sharma, who crossed 18,000 international runs in the game on Sunday, is also the first Indian player to be awarded the Player of the Match award twice in this edition of the World Cup.

Rohit, who has so far amassed 398 runs, is the third-highest run-scorer in the World Cup so far and is behind South Africa's Quinton De Kock (413 runs) and New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra (406 runs). Rohit next plays in front of his home crowd in Mumbai at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on November 2 against Sri Lanka and he would be more than eager to give a good start to the Men in Blue.

• Most Man of the Match awards in ODI World Cup:

9 - Sachin Tendulkar (45 matches)

7* - Rohit Sharma (23 matches)

6 - Glenn McGrath (39 matches)

5 - Lance Klusener (14 matches)

5 - Graham Gooch (21 matches)

5 - Viv Richards (23 matches)

5 - Ab de Villiers (23 matches)

5* - David Warner (24 matches)

5 - Sanath Jayasuriya (38 matches).

• Man of the Match Awards for INDIA in World Cup 2023:

KL Rahul - versus Australia, Chennai

Rohit Sharma - versus Afghanistan, New Delhi

Jasprit Bumrah - versus Pakistan, Ahmedabad

Virat Kohli - versus Bangladesh - Pune

Mohammed Shami - versus New Zealand, Dharamsala

Rohit Sharma - versus England, Lucknow