Page 42 - The Indian EYE 050523

SPORTS MAY 05, 2023 | The Indian Eye 42

The importance of being

Rohit Sharma and the reinvention

of Ajinkya Rahane

OUR BUREAU
score five centuries in a single World
Mumbai Cup tournament.
The batter is also the third fastest
tar India batter and all-format to 9,000 runs in ODI cricket, reach-
skipper Rohit Sharma turns 36
Son Sunday. This right-handed ing the milestone in 217 innings. He
is also the fourth fastest to reach
batter has entertained and mesmer- 8,000 runs in ODI (200 innings) and
ised audiences worldwide with his 7,000 runs (181 innings).
classy strokeplay and calm mindset Over the years, he has estab-
while batting or captaining his side. lished himself as a reliable test open-
He is among the best players of Pull er too. In 49 matches and 83 innings,
shot in the game, often employing it he has scored 3,379 runs at an aver-
during powerplay overs in white-ball age of 45.66 and a strike rate of over
cricket. But there is also a patient and 55. He has scored nine centuries and
determined side of him visible when 14 fifties in the format, with the best
he dons the white colours. This versa- score of 212.
tility makes him a perfect all-format He is part of the Indian team
batter of the modern era. Rohit made which reached the final of the ICC
his international cricket debut in 2007. World Test Championship in 2021
He impressed in his first high-pro- against New Zealand.
file outing of that year, the ICC T20 The ‘Hitman’ as he is known to
World Cup 2007. He scored 88 runs the fans, is also an absolute gun T20I
in three matches and stayed unbeaten player. In 148 T20I matches, he has
in all three games. He started off with scored 3,853 runs at an average of
a fifty against Ireland and provided a 31.32 and a strike rate of 139.24.
valuable contribution to his side’s win He has four centuries and 29 fifties
with a 16-ball 30* against arch-rivals in the format, with the best score
Pakistan in the final. of 118. He is the second-highest
Since then, this baby-faced
youngster evolved into one of the run-scorer in the format behind Vi-
rat Kohli (4,008 runs).
sport’s deadly willow wielders. The He has hit the most sixes in T20I
batter used to play in the middle cricket (182 sixes) and is the most-
order for the first six years of his ca- capped male player in the format
reer. But the ICC Champions Trophy (148 matches). He is part of the In-
2013, where he got a chance to open dian team that won the T20 WC in
with Shikhar Dhawan, sent his career 2007.
graph on a massive upward trajec- In international cricket overall,
tory. He scored 177 runs in five in- he has scored 17,057 runs at an av-
nings at an average of 35.40 with two erage of 42.74. He has 43 centuries
half-centuries in that tournament, and 91 fifties in international cricket,
which India won. Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the match against Punjab Super Kings in with a best score of 264. He is the
A shot at opening the innings
was a success and it transformed Ro- the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai (ANI) 29th highest-run-scorer in interna-
tional cricket and the sixth-highest
hit into one of the most destructive run-scorer ever for India, behind
batters in the modern era. In 243 have come at a strike rate of 90.02. tons by any player, behind Virat (46) MS Dhoni (17,092), Sourav Ganguly
ODIs, he has scored 9.825 runs at an He is the 15th-highest scorer in and Sachin (49). (18,433), Rahul Dravid (24,064), Vi-
average of 48.63. He has 30 centuries ODI cricket and the sixth-highest Rohit Sharma’s white-ball prow- rat Kohli (25,322) and Sachin Ten-
and 48 fifties in the format, with 264 run-scorer among Indians, behind ess was at its peak in ICC Cricket dulkar (34,357).
being his best individual score, which MS Dhoni (10,599), Rahul Dravid World Cup 2019 in England, where Rohit has made an impact in
is also the best score in ODI cricket (10,768), Sourav Ganguly (11,221), he topped the run-charts with 648 T20 cricket with his captaincy skills.
history. Rohit is also the only batter Virat Kohli (12,898) and Sachin Ten- runs at an average of 81.00 in nine He has won six IPL trophies, making
to have scored three double centu- dulkar (18.426 runs). matches with five centuries and a fif-
ries in ODI cricket. Rohit’s ODI runs He has the third-highest ODI ty. He became the first-ever player to Continued on next page... >>

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