Rohit Sharma credits daughter for his excellent form

Rohit Sharma hit his second century of the World Cup as India romped past Pakistan by 89-runs in a rain-affected contest at Old Trafford on Sunday. The right-handed opener’s fluent 140 laid the platform for the win and earned him the man-of-the-match award.

The 31-year-old believes becoming a new father at the turn of the year has helped put him in a mindset where run-scoring comes naturally.

“It’s just the space I am in right now, it’s a very good phase in my life. Having a newly born daughter in my life has actually put me in a good space. I’m enjoying my cricket,” Sharma expressed at the post-match press conference.

Given the speed at which Sharma was going a fourth double hundred was definitely a possibility. The opener, however, played down any talk of his mind wandering off in that direction.

"I was unhappy (when I got out), particularly the way I played that shot. He (Sarfaraz Ahmed) just pushed mid-on back and brought fine-leg in, so it was a little misjudgment from my side. When you're set you want to get as many runs as possible," Sharma explained.

"Trust me, I wasn't thinking of a double hundred. Got out at the wrong time, the partnership was becoming solid and we wanted to kill the game. We had the intent of playing a solid game today,” Sharma concluded.

Sarfaraz blames another batting collapse for loss

India’s next game will be against Afghanistan before they take on West Indies and captain Virat Kohli is likely to make selection changes as he expressed to the media after the match.

Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to leave the field midway through his third over due to a hamstring problem and now becomes the second injured player in the 15 along with Shikhar Dhawan.

“There’s a slight niggle for Bhuvi, he slipped on one of the footmarks. He's out for two or maybe three games, but he should come back for us at some stage during this tournament," Kohli admitted.