While he was batting, Sharma's impact was such that even bowler like Suranga Lakmal, who rattled top Indian batsmen in the first ODI, was hit for four sixes off four 'legal' balls in the 44th over of the innings.
As India's stand-in captain Rohit Sharma reached his third double hundred in ODIs on Wednesday here, he celebrated by removing the gloves and kissing his ring finger and raising his hand like a salute to his wife Ritika Sajdeh, who was applauding him from the stands. It was their second marriage anniversary.
After the match, Sharma dedicated his third ODI double hundred to his wife. "That's anniversary gift for sure. You must have seen the visuals, she was quite happy...more than me. She got a little emotional because it was the first time she saw me score a double hundred. It is not that I score double hundreds every day."
"I'm happy my wife is here with me on this special day. I know she would have liked this gift from me. She has been my strength. She has always been there for me. You go through so much stress in this sport, and having them around is always special," said Sharma.
While he was batting, Sharma's impact was such that even bowler like Suranga Lakmal, who rattled top Indian batsmen in the first ODI, was hit for four sixes off four 'legal' balls in the 44th over of the innings.
"Hitting sixes is not easy in cricket. May be when you watch it on TV, it looks easier, but it is not. Trust me, when you are out in the middle, you have to use your brain and you have to time the ball," said Sharma about his big hitting ability.
"I was trying to play with the field, playing a scoop shot, trying to hit over point. Those are my strengths."
When asked to rate this double hundred in the list of three now, the Mumbaikar refused to do so. "I cannot rate (it). I cannot rate this because the other (two) were as important as this one.
"Because the first one against Australia was a series decider. We were two-all and we wanted to win that series. The second one against Lanka was when I came back after three months of injury lay-off.
"This one also... having had a loss in the first game, we wanted to come back as a batting group," said Sharma.
Talking about the forthcoming tour of South Africa, Sharma said he would like to make amends to his miserable first tour to the Rainbow nation, where he scored just 45 runs in the four Test innings. His highest was 25.
Sharma said, "It is a little bit of technical adjustment because bounce in India is very different than in SA. Luckily, I have played there. Though I have not had a good time there, I am quite determined to change that.
"We have to do little adjustments and we have got those experienced coaches to take us through that," said the skipper, adding: "If you look at the performance in SA when we played last time, our batters had a good time. We put them under pressure. But again, it will be a challenge."
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