The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma delivered a spectacular performance in the second ODI against England, scoring a century that helped India in their pursuit of a 305-run target at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
The 37 years old right-handed batsman opened the innings and played an impressive knock of 119 runs, hitting 12 fours and 7 sixes. His innings not only bolstered India’s chase but also saw him achieve several significant milestones.
Surpassing the 22-run mark during his innings, Rohit moved past former Indian captain and coach Rahul Dravid’s tally of 10,889 runs, securing his place as the tenth leading run-scorer in ODI cricket. Since making his debut against Ireland on June 23, 2007, he has played 267 ODIs and accumulated 10,987 runs. Dravid, during his 15-year ODI career, played 344 matches, scoring a total of 10,889 runs. His contributions included 10,768 runs for India, 75 runs for Asia XI, and 46 runs in three matches for ICC World XI against Australia in 2005.
Rohit Sharma now stands just 13 runs away from reaching the 11,000-run mark in ODIs, and if he achieves this milestone in the upcoming third match against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 12, he will become the second fastest player after Virat Kohli to reach this feat.
In addition to surpassing Dravid, Rohit also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most runs scored by an Indian opener in international cricket. Having been a regular opener since the 2013 Champions Trophy, he now has 15,404 runs from 345 innings. The only Indian opener with more international runs than him is Virender Sehwag, who amassed 15,758 runs.
Sunday’s match also marked Rohit’s 50th ODI as India’s captain. His century in this milestone match has set a new record, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya’s previous highest individual score of 107 in his 50th ODI as Sri Lankan captain, achieved against New Zealand in Sharjah in 2001. England’s Eoin Morgan had also registered a century in his 50th ODI as captain, scoring 102 against India in Cuttack in 2007.
Rohit Sharma’s dominant innings reinforced his stature as one of the most prolific batsmen in limited-overs cricket.
