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Cricket World Cup 2023

Rohit Sharma’s back-to-back big campaigns are unrivalled in World Cup history

Rohit Sharma
Sarah Waris by Sarah Waris
@swaris16 2 minute read

Rohit Sharma continued his record-breaking form in the ongoing 2023 World Cup en route to his 54-ball 61 against the Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday (November 12).

The India skipper has been in sensational hitting form in the tournament, hitting a total of 503 runs in nine innings at an average of 55.88. While he has scored only one hundred, he has six more 40-plus knocks, leading from the front with his fast starts. He became the first batter to score 500 runs in successive 50-over World Cups, having made 648 runs in 2019.

The opener narrowly beat David Warner to the feat, with the left-hander stranded on 499 runs in this World Cup after he was out on 53 against Bangladesh on Saturday. Warner had made 647 runs four years ago.

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He is also the first India captain to make more than 500 runs in a single edition of the World Cup and the fifth skipper overall, after Kane Williamson (2019), Mahela Jayawardene (2007), Ricky Ponting (2007) and Aaron Finch (2019). Rohit surpassed Sourav Ganguly’s record of 465 runs in the 2003 World Cup to become the highest run-scorer among India skippers in a single edition.

Rohit’s aggressive approach has been pivotal in helping India run away with the game in the powerplay. He has hit a total of 17 sixes in the first ten overs of the innings in the World Cup, the most by any batter this year. Overall, he has 60 sixes in 2023, the most by a batter from a Full-Member country. He has also hit the most maximums by a player from a Full-member country in a single calendar year, surpassing AB de Villiers’ tally of 58 maximums he had smashed in 2015.

Of Rohit’s 60 sixes in 2023, 24 have come in nine games in the World Cup. No other captain has hit as many maximums as him in a single tournament, having surpassed Eoin Morgan’s 22 from 2019. He needs three more sixes to become the leading six-hitter in a single World Cup among all batters, with the list being led by Chris Gayle, who smashed 26 maximums in 2015.

Rohit also has a strike rate of 121.94 in the competition – no other batter has made more runs at a better strike rate in a single edition of the World Cup.

To bet on the World Cup with our Match Centre Partners bet365 head here.

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