Indian team’s skipper Rohit Sharma has made a big achievement by breaking a record that Sachin Tendulkar held for a long time during the second one-day international (ODI) match between India and Sri Lanka. Rohit continued his good performance from the first match into the second and scored another fifty or more runs while chasing the target in the second game.
By scoring his second fifty in a row in this series, Rohit has surpassed Sachin in an important milestone. Rohit now holds the record for the most fifty or more runs scores among Indian players who open the batting in international cricket. This was his 121st time scoring more than fifty runs while opening. Sachin now has 120 such scores, which is less than Rohit.
It’s important to mention that Rohit is sixth on the overall list. David Warner has the most fifty or more runs scores at the top of the order with 146, while Chris Gayle is second with 144 such scores. Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya is third in this list with 136, followed by Desmond Haynes with 131 and Graeme Smith with 125.
Most fifty-plus scores by openers in International cricket:
David Warner: 146 in 374 matches
Chris Gayle :144 in 441 matches
Sanath Jayasuriya : 136 in 506 matches
Desmond Haynes : 131 in 354 matches
Graeme Smith : 125 in 342 matches.
In addition to this, Rohit surpassed former Indian captain MS Dhoni in the list of most runs scored by Indian players in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Dhoni had 10773 ODI runs, and Rohit needed just seven more runs to overtake the former wicket-keeper batsman.
As a result, Rohit became the fifth-highest run-scorer for India in ODIs, following Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid.
The Indian captain started strongly, dismissing Dunith Wellalage at one end. He continued to take opportunities and showcased his signature six with a pull shot, then reached his half-century in 29 balls with another six.
The Indian captain couldn’t keep up his aggressive batting for long after scoring fifty runs. He was out for 64 when he tried to hit the ball in reverse direction off Jeffrey Vandersay’s bowling in the 14th over. Pathum Nissanka, positioned at the back point, had to run to his right and then dive to catch a fantastic ball.
Before that, Sri Lanka scored 240/9 in their first innings, thanks to some good late batting from Kamindu Mendis and Dunith Wellalage. Sri Lanka chose to bat first after winning the toss again.
