India’s white-ball captain Rohit Sharma bagged a unique record during the second ODI against Sri Lanka which his side lost by 32 runs at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
Sharma, who recently led India to T20 World Cup 2024 win, became the first Indian and second overall batter to hit 300 sixes in ODIs as an opener.
Chasing the 241-run target, Sharma provided India a brilliant start as he played a rapid 64-run knock on 44 balls with five fours and four sixes.
During the innings, the 37-year-old, as an opener, took his six tally in ODIs to 302 in 177 matches, only behind the legendary West Indies’ batter, Chris Gayle, who has 328 maximums from 280 matches.
After Sharma, Sri Lanka’s former opener Sanath Jayasuriya is ranked third on the list with 263 sixes from ODIs.
Meanwhile, if we take a look at the players with the most sixes overall in ODIs, Sharma is ranked third with 330 sixes in 264 matches, behind Gayle (331 sixes in 264 matches) and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi (351 sixes in 398 matches).
During the chase, India were bowled out for 208 in 42.2 overs with Jeffrey Vandersay taking 6/33 in his 10 overs.
Sharma and Shubman Gill gave India a brilliant start, adding 97 runs for the first wicket before Vandersay dismissed Rohit on 64.
During his innings, Rohit surpassed former head coach Rahul Dravid for the most ODI runs among Indian batters. Rohit (10,831) now trails only Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Virat Kohli (13,886), and Sourav Ganguly (11,221) for the most ODI runs by an Indian batter.
Gill was the next to depart, scoring 35, with Vandersay claiming his second wicket. Shivam Dube, promoted up the order, failed to open his account and fell in the same over.
Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul were the next to go, as India's score plummeted from 97/0 to 147/6 in less than 10 overs—all to Vandersay.
Axar Patel and Washington Sundar then tried to steady the innings, adding 38 runs for the seventh wicket. Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka dismissed both batters within the space of five runs, leaving India seven down for less than 200.
The Sri Lankan skipper returned to take India's ninth wicket, Mohammed Siraj, with the score at 201, before a run-out seven runs later ended the match.
- Rohit Sharma
