Rohit Sharma owns these prominent ODI records as an opener
Although India suffered a 0-2 defeat in the recent three-ODI series against Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was in top form. He scored 58 in the opener and backed it up with 64 in the second game. He made 35 in the decider as no other Indian could manage a half-century in the series. Let's decode his prominent ODI records as an opener.
Fastest to 8,000 ODI runs as opener
During the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, Rohit scored his 8,000th run as an opener in the ODI format. He entered the 8,000-run club in his 160th innings, the fastest for any opener. Rohit broke the record of South African legend Hashim Amla, who took 173 innings for this achievement. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored 8,000 ODI runs as an opener in 179 innings.
Highest ODI average as an opener (3,000-plus runs)
Having opened 176 times in ODIs, Rohit has raced to 8,836 runs. Among Indian players, only Tendulkar (15,310) and Sourav Ganguly (9,146) have more runs in this regard. Notably, Rohit has the best average (55.57) among batters with more than 3,000 ODI runs as openers. Overall, he is sixth in terms of most runs as an opener in ODIs.
Second-most sixes as ODI opener
The second ODI against Sri Lanka saw Rohit become the second batter after West Indies legend Chris Gayle (328) to complete 300 maximums while opening the batting. Having played 176th innings as an opener, Rohit now owns 303 sixes. Overall, he boasts 331 ODI sixes. Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (263) is the only other batter with 180-plus ODI sixes while batting at the top.
Second-most tons as ODI opener
29 of Rohit's 31 ODI tons have come while opening the proceedings. Only Tendulkar (45) has more hundreds in this regard. Meanwhile, all of Rohit's three ODI double-tons have been recorded as an opener. No other batter owns multiple 200s in ODIs. Rohit also owns the highest individual score in the format, 264 versus Sri Lanka, 2014.
Joint-most sixes in an innings as opener
Rohit recorded 16 sixes en route to his 209 against Australia in the 2013 Bengaluru game. These are the joint-most-maximums by an opening in an ODI. While the Indian batting ace smashed 33 fours during his record-breaking 264 against SL, no other batter has slammed even 27 boundaries in a match.
