During the course of his knock against Sri Lanka on Friday (August 2), India opener Rohit Sharma went past more than a few milestones, and drew level with Sachin Tendulkar on one.
In the first ODI of the bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka, the Men in Blue played their first 50-overs game since the World Cup final in November 2023. Senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul returned to action after not being part of the T20I squad which recently beat Sri Lanka 3-0.
Read more: Why India players are wearing black armbands against Sri Lanka
Chasing 231 after Sri Lanka had elected to bat first, Rohit came out all guns blazing with the bat. He hit the second ball of the innings for six, and took debutant Mohamed Shiraz for 14 runs in the fourth over. In the final over of the first Powerplay, he completed a 33-ball half-century by slog-sweeping Akila Dananjaya for six.
Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that players' participation in T20 franchise leagues should be limited to a maximum of three per year.
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Rohit Sharma draws level with Sachin Tendulkar
The knock took him level with Sachin Tendulkar for the most scores of 50 and above by an Indian opener in international cricket across formats, on 120. With 77 half-centuries and 43 centuries, he is also close to Tendulkar's record of 75 half-centuries and 45 tons.
There are five players above Rohit on this list now — Graeme Smith (125), Desmond Haynes (131), Sanath Jayasuriya (136), Chris Gayle (144) and David Warner (146).
Rohit also crossed the mark of 15,000 international runs as an opener, becoming the tenth player to do so. Two Indians, Virender Sehwag (16,119) and Sachin Tendulkar (15,335) are ahead of him. The record stands with Sanath Jayasuriya, who has scored 19,298.
🇱🇰: 230-8 (50)
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) August 2, 2024
A disciplined bowling performance from India restricted Sri Lanka to a modest total.#AxarPatel #MohammedSiraj #KuldeepYadav #India #Cricket #SLvsIND #ODIs pic.twitter.com/NPB2qHm2lJ
Another milestone that Rohit went past was that of 1000 fours in ODI cricket. His tally now stands at 1001 after the seven he hit during his stay in the middle. He is the 13th player to hit the four-figure mark, and the fifth Indian. Sourav Ganguly (1122), Virender Sehwag (1132), Virat Kohli (1294) and Sachin Tendulkar (2016) are the four ahead of him.
Rohit also overtook Eoin Morgan as the captain with the most sixes across all formats. Rohit has now hit 234 maximums while captaining across formats.
At the time of writing, India were 89-3 in 16.4 overs, with Rohit having been dismissed lbw by Dunith Wellalage.
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