Rohit Sharma becomes fastest to 8,000 ODI runs as opener
Indian opener and captain Rohit Sharma has extended his phenomenal run with the bat in the ongoing Asia Cup. Two days after slamming a half-century against Pakistan, Rohit hammered Sri Lanka with a 48-ball 53 in the Super Four encounter. As a result, he became the fastest to reach 8,000 runs as an opener in ODI cricket. He also raced to 10,000 ODI runs.
Rohit shows his positive intent
Rohit once again came out with a positive intent after he elected to bat. He displayed his attacking intent, punishing the poor deliveries and respecting the ideal ones. Rohit looked solid on 53 off 48 balls (7 fours and 2 sixes), but Dunith Wellalage knocked him over in the 16th over. The former slammed his 51st half-century in ODI cricket.
Fastest to 8,000 ODI runs as opener
During his knock, Rohit scored his 8,000th run as an opener in the 50-over format. He entered the 8,000-run club in his 160th innings, now the fastest to do so as an 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 (8,000-plus runs)
Rohit has become only the third Indian to have completed 8,000 runs as an opener in ODI cricket. Tendulkar (15,310) and Sourav Ganguly (9,146) are ahead of Rohit in this regard. Rohit now has 8,001 runs while opening for India in 162 ODIs. He is the only one to average over 50 (55.95) among batters with more than 8,000 ODI runs as openers.
Second-fastest to 10,000 ODI runs
With his 22nd run in the match, Rohit completed 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. He is the sixth Indian to do so after Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni. Rohit also became the second-fastest to 10,000 ODI runs (241st innings). He broke the record of Tendulkar, who took 259 innings. Kohli tops this list, having taken just 205 innings.
Most sixes in ODI Asia Cup
Rohit smashed a couple of sixes in his knock against Sri Lanka. The Indian captain now has the most sixes in the ODI Asia Cup, having broken a tie with Pakistan great Shahid Afridi (26). Notably, Rohit remains the only Indian to have hammered over 20 maximums in the tournament. He has 10 more sixes than second-placed Suresh Raina on this list.
