Rohit Sharma at 38, Finally Achieves the One Milestone That Eluded Him Throughout His Entire Career

Indian batters had mixed results in the latest ICC ODI Batting Rankings, with Rohit Sharma moving to the top, while Virat Kohli dropped to no. 6.

Rohit Sharma at 38, Finally Achieves the One Milestone That Eluded Him Throughout His Entire Career

Rohit Sharma is now ranked the number one batter in ODIs. (via NDTV Sports)

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Veteran Indian opener Rohit Sharma achieved a historic milestone at the age of 38, making it to the top of the ICC ODI Batting Rankings for the first time in his career. Sharma’s feat was a result of his impressive display during the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against Australia. 

In the three ODIs against Australia, Rohit Sharma, making his return to Team India colors after a seven-month long break, endured a great run of form. The veteran Indian opener, who had been removed from ODI captaincy earlier this month, was dismissed for just eight runs in the first ODI in Perth. However, Sharma made a comeback by scoring 73 runs in Adelaide, and followed it up with a hundred in Sydney. 

Sharma finished the three-match ODI series with 202 runs in three innings at an average of 101. Courtesy of his performances, Sharma jumped two places to make it to the summit of the latest ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings. He in fact, became the oldest cricketer to achieve this feat at 38 years and 182 days old, surpassing countryman Sachin Tendulkar’s previously-held record at 38 years and 73 days. 

Despite a long and distinguished ODI career, it marks the first time that he has claimed the number one rank on the ICC ODI Batting Rankings, with his previous best being the second place. A record holder in the 50-over format, Sharma stands as India’s third-highest all-time run-getter with 11,370 runs in 276 matches, with the distinction of being the only player to score three double-hundreds in the format.

The 38-year-old former skipper deposed Shubman Gill from the no.1 spot on the ODI Batting Rankings, while also gaining 40 rating points to move from 741 to 781. Sharma now leads the rankings with 781 points, followed by Ibrahim Zadran, who has 764 points. Gill has dropped to no. 3 with 745 points, given he endured a lean run-scoring patch of just 43 runs across the three matches against Australia.

However, his current rating of 781 points is still lower than the 882 points, achieved after a stellar 2019 World Cup campaign. Nonetheless, Sharma becomes only the fifth Indian batter, after Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Gill to make it to the top of the ODI Batting Rankings. 

Records Rohit Sharma broke following his masterclass display in the ODI series against Australia

Rohit Sharma, apart from making it to the number one spot on the latest ICC ODI Batting Rankings, also shattered numerous records following his masterclass display against Australia. Sharma was named POTS for finishing as top run-getter, as well as POTM in the final ODI in Sydney. 

Rohit Sharma ODI records
Rohit Sharma broke several records in the ODI series against Australia. (via HIndustan Times)

The 38-year-old recorded his 50th international hundred during the series, becoming only the third Indian batter after Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli to reach this landmark across all the three formats. His 9th ODI hundred put him at par with Tendulkar’s record for the most hundreds by an Indian player in the 50-over format against Australia. Notably, Sharma achieved this milestone in only 49 innings, compared to Tendulkar’s 70.

To continue with the plethora of records, Sharma surpassed Kohli’s record of five centuries to set a new record with six ODI centuries in Australia. He became the first Indian and only the second visiting batter to score more than one ODI century at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground. He also equaled Tendulkar’s record of 45 international hundreds as an opener across formats.

Not only did he break individual records, but Sharma also shared his record-breaking spree with Kohli. The veteran Indian duo equaled the record of 12 partnerships of 150+ runs in ODIs, matching the legendary pair of Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

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