Six Innings, Two Centuries — Jaiswal's Record Arrival Is Rohit's Gentle Goodbye

The first ball of the third ODI at Chepauk told you everything. Yashasvi Jaiswal, playing only his sixth ODI innings, drilled three fours in the opening over of India's chase like a man who had been scoring ODI centuries for a decade. He hadn't. He'd scored exactly one — against South Africa in Vizag last December. Then the selectors dropped him. Then they brought him back. Then he made them look stupid.

By the time Jaiswal launched an inside-out six over covers to bring up his century off 83 balls in the 29th over, he had done something no Indian batter had ever done this quickly: reached two ODI hundreds in just six innings. Shikhar Dhawan held that record at seven innings, set during his blistering 2013 run when he announced himself to world cricket with centuries in his first two Tests. Jaiswal didn't just break it. He made it look leisurely.

The final scorecard — 110 not out, India winning by nine wickets in 28.4 overs chasing 219 — barely captures the violence. Or the significance.

Here's what makes Chennai's 170-run opening stand more poignant than any stat table: the man standing at the non-striker's end when Jaiswal brought up his century was Rohit Sharma. He's 38. He retired from T20 internationals in 2024 after winning the World Cup. He retired from Tests in May 2025. He no longer captains the ODI side — that job belongs to Shubman Gill, who took over last October. The only format Rohit has left is the 50-over game, and even that is conditional on form and fitness, as the selectors have quietly made clear.

And yet, in what might have been a valedictory innings, Rohit produced one of his own. His 79 off 47 balls — 62nd ODI fifty — took him past Rahul Dravid's 94 to record the most 50-plus scores by any Indian in ODI history. Ninety-five, and counting. He also overtook Virender Sehwag as India's highest run-scorer as opener, crossing 16,137 international runs from the top of the order.

The records keep falling for Rohit. But they feel less like milestones and more like bookmarks in a closing chapter.

Before the batting exhibition, there was carnage of a different kind. Prasidh Krishna, recalled after being rested for the second ODI, produced the best bowling figures ever recorded at Chepauk in ODI cricket: 5 for 23 off 8.2 overs. Afghanistan were 36 for 4 before they could blink.

The tall seamer's ability to extract bounce and movement off a surface that traditionally assists spin was extraordinary. He hit hard lengths consistently, found edges repeatedly, and made Afghanistan's top order look like men who had never faced pace above 135kph. Only Hashmatullah Shahidi — who scored a fighting maiden ODI century (102 off 131 balls) — offered any resistance in a team total of 218.

Krishna's five-for is easy to overlook given the batting fireworks that followed, but it was the foundation of India's clinical sweep. Without it, this is a competitive match. With it, India were chasing 219 with the confidence of men chasing 120.

Here's the elephant at Chepauk. Jaiswal scored a century on his ODI debut series against South Africa in December 2025. The selectors responded by dropping him. He wasn't in the squad for the next ODI assignment. Then, ahead of the Afghanistan series in May, a Times of India report claimed that Jaiswal's inclusion was discussed in a selection meeting where the subtext was unmistakable: how long can Rohit continue?

Shubman Gill, now India's ODI captain, reportedly backed Rohit's continuation. The BCCI issued no official statement. Jaiswal was quietly added back to the squad. And then he went out and scored 110 not out to close the argument with a boundary.

Nobody will say it publicly, but the 2027 World Cup opening combination is no longer a question. It's Gill and Jaiswal. The only question is whether Rohit will be the one to step aside, or whether the runs will make the decision for him. After Chennai, the runs have spoken.

India's whitewash of Afghanistan — following Ishan Kishan's emotional comeback century in the first ODI and a dominant second game — was comprehensive and expected. But the third ODI delivered something more valuable than a series trophy: clarity.

Jaiswal is not a backup opener. He's a future franchise player in 50-over cricket, someone who can hit three fours in the first over of a chase and then score a century at better than a run a ball. Prasidh Krishna has announced himself as India's premier pace threat in home ODIs when the conditions are right. And Rohit Sharma, even at 38, can still produce a 47-ball 79 that makes you forget he's closer to retirement than his next World Cup.

But forgetting is different from denying. The 170-run opening stand at Chepauk was magnificent. It was also, in all probability, the beginning of the end of one partnership and the first rehearsal of another. The next time India need an opener for a big ODI series, the phone might ring for only one of these two batsmen. And increasingly, the evidence suggests it won't be the one with 95 fifties.