Kohli’s golden duck dismissal hurts, but Rohit lifts fans’ spirits

However, as the sun began to set, Rohit and Rahul took charge to make the evening a memorable one. Rohit had set his sights on a second consecutive century but fell eight runs short. Rahul, meanwhile, went on to score a career-best 129 off 87 balls, remaining unbeaten as India posted 351/7.

“I only came to watch Rohit and Virat, as this was their last ODI here. It was disheartening after Kohli departed early, but Rohit ensured a gala time for the fans,” said Anshu, a young spectator.

The day was also special for Karnal (Haryana) lad Anshul Kamboj, who made his ODI debut and received his cap from Kohli.

“It’s good to see the Indian team experimenting with pacers in the absence of seasoned players such as Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya, keeping the ICC World Cup preparations in mind. I was expecting a good show from the batters on this ground, but the Indian team played slowly despite opting to bat first. However, the overall performance of the team was really appreciable,” said Kritja Chauhan, a budding cricketer.

“Most of the people were here to watch Rohit and Kohli, but it was KL Rahul who stole the show. It was an amazing innings from him, and scoring a career-best in the first-ever match here is a memory Rahul will cherish for a long time,” said Ishdeep Singh Sandhu, another spectator.

It was not the first time Rahul had scored a century on this ground. He became the first cricketer to score two international centuries at the venue, having previously scored 100 against Afghanistan in a Test in June this year.

His 129-run innings today featured 10 boundaries and six sixes, coming at a strike rate of 148.27 off 87 balls.

Meanwhile, Rohit became only the fourth batter in ODI history to aggregate 10,000 runs as an opener, reaching the milestone in a world-record 202 innings. He joined Sachin Tendulkar (15,310), Sanath Jayasuriya (12,740) and Chris Gayle (10,179) in the elite list.

His 137-run partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad also added to his impressive record. It was the 75th 100-plus partnership of Rohit’s career, putting him behind only Tendulkar (99) and Virat Kohli (88) in the all-time list.

Fans continued to face parking woes in the absence of proper parking facilities.

“The stadium is located outside the city and should have a proper parking facility. Fields are being converted into temporary parking lots, but they do not have proper bays for four-wheelers,” said Shivendra, a fan from Haryana.

As the Indian cricket team successfully defended its Asian Games gold medal in Japan, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has announced that it will honour the team members from Punjab.

Opener Abhishek Sharma and pacer Arshdeep Singh will be felicitated upon their return. Sharma scored 61 off 28 balls, studded with three boundaries and seven sixes, as India registered a 19-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in Japan on Saturday.

“As the president of the PCA, I take immense pride in their historic achievements, and it gives me great joy to announce that the PCA will soon host a grand felicitation ceremony to honour our two champions. Whenever Abhishek and Arshdeep return home, they will receive a hero’s welcome befitting their stellar contributions,” said Amarjit Mehta, PCA president.

He added, “I firmly believe that their success is not merely a personal milestone, but a powerful catalyst for Punjab’s entire sporting fraternity. The passion, discipline and hunger shown by Abhishek and Arshdeep will serve as a massive inspiration for thousands of budding cricketers across the state.”