Follow UsNon-committal? 38 years old? Overweight? Not a captain anymore?
Before the three-match ODI series against Australia, there were a lot of questions over Rohit Sharma's place in the Indian setup. The fact that he was no longer the captain of the ODI side posed a more challenging conundrum for the selectors.
But like time and again, Rohit answered all those challenging questions with the bat, as he showed that he still has it in the third ODI against Australia in Sydney, on October 25 (Saturday). Before today, Rohit had shown progression when he smashed 73 in the second ODI in Adelaide, but that knock wasn’t without its fair share of troubles.
However, he was spotless from ball one in Sydney, as he clipped one off Mitchell Starc’s bowling for a four. Within no time, the right-hander was batting at his aggressive best – sitting pretty on 31 off 35 balls at the end of the powerplay.
Once Virat Kohli joined him out there in the middle, Rohit’s form took a sharp rise, as he spared no Australian bowler in the most swashbuckling of manners to bring up his fifth ODI ton against Australia in Australia. In doing so, he surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of four centuries in Sri Lanka as the most centuries in a country for a visiting opener.
It was also a feast for the Indian fans, who cherished the 'RoKo' combination for one last time in Australia, as the pair stitched up a 168-run partnership for the third wicket.
Most centuries in a country for a visiting opener in ODIs
5* - R Sharma in Australia
4 - S Tendulkar in Sri Lanka
3 - H Amla in the West Indies
3 - C Gayle in India
Oldest centurion for India in ODIs
38y 327d - S Tendulkar vs BAN, Mirpur, 2012
38y 178d - R Sharma vs AUS, Sydney, 2025*
38y 113d - S Gavaskar vs NZ, Nagpur, 1987
Most centuries against an opponent in ODIs
10 - V Kohli vs SL
9* - R Sharma vs AUS
9 - V Kohli vs WI
9 - S Tendulkar vs AUS
Most 150+ run partnerships for a batting pair in ODIs
12* - R Sharma & V Kohli
12 - S Ganguly & S Tendulkar
7 - TM Dilshan & K Sangakkara