In a double Super Over thriller on Wednesday, Rohit Sharma lighted up the Bengaluru sky with an incredible hundred runs against Afghanistan.
With significant assistance from Rinku Singh (69* off 39), the Indian skipper amassed an undefeated 121 off 69 balls, raising the team’s total from 22/4 to 212/4. However, Afghanistan’s top order came through and leveled the match.
After the first Super Over was tied as well, Rohit Sharma became the first batsman to bat three times in a Twenty20 International. Before Ravi Bishnoi used his superb defensive leg-spin bowling abilities to win the game for India, he scored 13 and 11 runs, respectively, in those two innings.
Regarding the second Super Over, there was some debate. Before returning to bat in the second, the captain retired himself off the field on the final ball of the first one, allowing Rinku Singh to remain on the non-striker’s end.
A hitter who is ‘dismissed’ in one super-over cannot bat in another according to ICC regulations. Even though retiring out is a legal way to be fired, the umpires failed to stop him, and as of the time this article was written, the ICC has not yet provided an explanation.
However, Rohit’s innings came after two straight ducks and restored his confidence in the Indian T20I team. Along the process, it assisted him in shattering several enormous records, five of which are mentioned below:
5. Most runs as captain in T20Is
Only three T20I captains with significant runs at the helm have led India. With the 121, Rohit Sharma surpassed Virat Kohli’s record of 1,570 runs from 50 games and increased his total runs as captain to 1,648 runs (54 games).
MS Dhoni sits third on the list, even though he had a lower batting order position. He managed to score 1,112 runs in 72 games. Rohit, although having the least impressive average (37.06), stood out with the top strike rate (148.73).
4. Most sixes as captain in T20Is
Including the eight sixes he smashed throughout his knock, Rohit Sharma now has 90 sixes from 54 innings. He became the format’s greatest six-hitter after surpassing the 86 maximums set by former England captain Eoin Morgan.
The Indian opener shattered the record in just 54 innings, whilst Morgan needed 65 innings to set his own. Aaron Finch, with 82 (76 matches), is the next player on the list.
Rohit Sharma surpassed Chris Gayle’s international cricket record for most sixes last year. Now, every six he hits sets a new record.
3. Rohit Sharma is now the oldest Indian to score a T20I hundred
Rohit Sharma, aged 37 years and 262 days, set a record as the oldest Indian, and sixth-oldest globally, to notch a T20I century. This achievement outdid Virat Kohli, who was 33 years, 307 days old when he made his first T20I hundred (122*) in the 2022 T20 Asia Cup. Interestingly, Kohli’s feat also happened against Afghanistan.
Avinash Pai of Gibraltar leads the overall records chart with a 107* versus Bulgaria in 2021, at the age of 39 years and 272 days.
2. Highest fifth-wicket partnership in a T20I
Both Rohit and Rinku entered the record books with their undefeated partnership of 190 runs. In T20I history, it was the highest partnership for the fifth wicket ever. The previous record was set by Nepal’s 145 versus Hong Kong during the Asian Games last year, thanks to Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Aireee.
In addition, it broke Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda’s record of 176 runs for the second wicket against Ireland in 2022, making it the biggest partnership on any wicket for India.
1. Most hundreds in T20Is
The captain’s fifth T20I century was maybe the biggest record. He now has more triple-digit scores in T20I history than Glenn Maxwell (4) and Suryakumar Yadav (4) combined.
In the format, three hitters have three hundred hits apiece, while eleven have two. But Rohit Sharma broke the record in his 151st game, and no one else who has at least two T20I hundreds has played as many matches as he.
