Sunday at Lord's was always going to be about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Two Indian stars, likely playing for the last time in England. And what better place to do so than at the Home of Cricket. But before it became about them, it was about Sir Garry Sobers.
The two teams lined up for a minute's silence to mark Sobers' death. Sobers was very much there in spirit. The man who inspired generations must have stirred something in Rohit and Kohli at some point in their careers too. Those who were lucky enough to watch Sobers play would say he excelled not just because he was supremely skilled and a natural athlete, but also because he felt the joy of playing the game.
Rohit is 39 now and Kohli is 38. Playing for the joy of it has not been that easy for them, especially for Rohit. And the joy of watching Rohit in full flow - score with freedom, charge bowlers, pull, drive and accelerate like not many can - hadn't been there much in this past week either. In the first two ODIs of the series, he struggled to find fluency. The news about the selectors having spoken to him prior to the series about a possible retirement emerged halfway into the second ODI in Cardiff. Nobody knows how it might have impacted Rohit.
On Sunday, as he got ready for action, nothing suggested it was his farewell. In the initial moments, he was trying to locate where his family - his parents, his wife and their children - were sat in the stands. Once he spotted them, he was at ease. Later in the afternoon when he walked out to bat with Shubman Gill, Rohit was well aware that India had to do something really special to win - the target of 388 was the the highest to be set at Lord's, not just in ODIs but in all List A cricket. Sourav Ganguly's India were the last team to scale down a 290-plus target at Lord's, all the way back in 2003, thanks to the heroics of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif. Yuvraj, incidentally, was present on Sunday and rang the five-minute bell before start of play.
Rohit started with a single on the third ball he faced. On his eighth ball, he charged Gus Atkinson and was lucky his top edge rushed to the boundary at third for his first four. A couple of fours in Josh Tongue's first over, the eighth of the innings, set the chants of "Rohit, Rohit" going across Lord's, which had a strong Indian presence, fans sensing this could be the last time they would see Rohit and Kohli in England.
Tongue responded in his next over by opening Rohit up with a perfect away-seamer in the channel and finished with a maiden. Gill would say after the match that it was difficult to score against the new ball, so he and Rohit had resolved to dig in.
But if he was diffident in the first two ODIs, on Sunday Rohit ensured the tap never dried up. Against both Sam Curran and Atkinson, he played the paddle, quickly moving outside the line of the ball to pick fours past the fine-leg boundary. Curran tested him with his ultra-slow balls, but Rohit used his wrists to both paddle the ball and cut past point, and at times hit over mid-off or cover to create scoring areas.
Gill suffered cramps after reaching his half century, and Rohit realised he had to take some risks to bring down the mounting pressure and asking rate. He was also past the fifty mark by then, and charged Jofra Archer at the start of his second spell, the leading edge flying behind the wicketkeeper for a one-bounce four. In the same over, a fuller-length delivery on the legs was deftly flicked for another four.
Moving around the crease or stepping out against quick bowlers was one way Rohit dominated during his peak years between 2022 and 2025. In this period, Rohit made 175 runs off 77 balls against quick bowlers in ODIs when he didn't stay put, while being dismissed just twice. Before Sunday, in 2026, Rohit had scored just eight runs off 11 such instances, and had been dismissed three times. At Lord's, Rohit scored 19 off nine with four fours.
Rohit burst into the 90s with two solid sixes off Tongue, the first a pull over midwicket and the second straight down the ground and in the stands in front of the Long Room. Before those blows off the last two balls of the 29th over, Tongue had conceded just three runs in four balls, but Rohit was only biding his time. By now, Rohit was eight short of a century. And the Indian fans' victory chant - "Jeetega bhai jeetega, India jeetega" - finally made an appearance.
Lord's soon stood up to applaud Rohit as he became the first India batter to bring up an ODI century at the venue. Off 84 balls. The milestone came with a slog-sweep for four over deep midwicket against Adil Rashid. Fittingly, Kohli was at other end: he tapped Rohit on the head and gave him a hug. Rohit raised his bat to first acknowledge the dressing room, then the fans, and finally his family, pointing the bat twice in their direction.
The job was far from done, though, and while Rohit kept being creative and bold, he had started to feel something in his left leg. And on 138 - also the highest individual score at Lord's, by Viv Richards (1979 World Cup), before Ben Duckett scored 141 earlier in the day - Rohit shuffled outside off to play fine, and Jacob Bethell bent the middle stump.
Kohli tapped Rohit's left shoulder and the helmet as he walked off. Rohit had played his part and taken India to a spot from where victory was distant but not impossible. He would then watch the rest of the match from a corner of the Indian dressing-room balcony.
About an hour earlier, Kohli had walked out to a loud ovation from the Indian fans. He had sprinted in with the familiar burst of energy well before Gill had walked out. Sky Cricket even had a package of Kohli's best moments in England in place and played it out as he took guard. At that point, India needed 241 runs from 154 balls. With the two batting greats in the middle, the game was still in the balance, and Kohli started with a solid, wedged straight drive for four.
England captain Harry Brook quickly threw the ball to Archer, who has got rid of Kohli twice this series. By the time Archer had finished a three-over spell, 20 more overs were left. As the last of those three overs were coming to an end, Stuart Broad said on air that Kohli would do well to see Archer off quietly. On the penultimate delivery of the over, an lbw appeal was turned down - the ball had pitched outside leg. Last ball, Kohli moved wide outside leg, Archer followed him, but the length was full enough for Kohli to flick the ball powerfully for four past midwicket.
While he crossed his highest score across formats at Lord's - 45 - and then raised his bat to acknowledge the half-century, Kohli was constantly losing his shape, swinging wildly several times, even against Bethell. The crowd kept egging him on, but Kohli was unable to find the rhythm. He was fortunate that Rohit was offsetting the pressure at the other end.
But once Rohit left, the run-flow reduced drastically. Eventually, Kohli's fight came to an end as he slogged Curran, and even before the ball had landed in Brook's hands at cover, Kohli had turned his back and started walking, head bowed. In the balcony, Rohit stared blankly. Some Indian fans were starting to head out. The king of run-chases had left the stage, as Nasser Hussain said on air. England fans started singing as India hurtled to their fate.
Later, Rohit would walk towards the Grand Stand to speak to friends and family, including wife Ritika. You didn't need to hear him to get a sense that despite India's loss, there was satisfaction and joy and relief in that group.
India did not win, but Rohit came up with a great innings at a time of intense speculation over his future. He did not do anything wild to celebrate his century. He was hurting, certainly, but he didn't show it till the end. Well after the match was over, he continued to wave to the fans that had stayed on to see him. One last time in England.