Rohit Sharma scored his 53rd ODI half-century off just 30 deliveries and then hit pacer Naveel-ul-Haq for an 85m maximum, shattering Chris Gayle’s record of most sixes in international cricket.
Rohit Sharma on Wednesday reached multiple remarkable milestones while batting in India’s second ICC World Cup 2023 fixture, against Afghanistan in Delhi. He completed 1000 runs in World Cups the moment he reached the score of 22 in the chase of 272 at the Arun Jaitely Stadium. He went on to score his 53rd ODI half-century off just 30 deliveries and then hit pacer Naveel-ul-Haq for an 85m maximum over deep square leg, shattering ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle’s long-standing record of most sixes in international cricket.
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Rohit bounced back stronger against Afghanistan after securing a duck in the previous encounter against Australia in Chennai. During the fifth over of India’s chase, he smashed Fazalhaq Farooqi for a flat six over long-off to complete 100 World Cup runs, becoming only the fourth Indian batter to reach the milestone.
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in ODIs, tops the list with 2278 runs, followed by Virat Kohli (1115), and Sourav Ganguly (1006). Rohit is the fourth entrant to the elite club of Indian batters.
Most runs for India in World Cups
| PLAYERS | RUNS IN ODI WORLD CUPS |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 2278 |
| Virat Kohli | 1115 |
| Rohit Sharma | 1066* |
| Sourav Ganguly | 1006 |
| Rahul Dravid | 860 |
*(Rohit Sharma was still batting when the story was filed)
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Rohit also became the joint-fastest batter to 1000 runs in the ODI World Cup. He reached the milestone in 19 innings, joining David Warner at the top of the list. Had he scored 22 runs against Australia, he would have been the fastest batter in the world to achieve this feat.
Least innings to 1,000 runs in World Cups
| PLAYERS | NO. OF INNINGS TO 1000 WORLD CUP RUNS |
| David Warner | 19 |
| Rohit Sharma | 19 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 20 |
| AB de Villiers | 20 |
| Sir Viv Richards | 21 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 21 |
After completing 100 runs in World Cups, Rohit rewrote another record, edging past West Indies legend Chris Gayle. The Indian skipper hit six off Naveen-ul-Haq’s bowling in the 8th over to go past Gayle’s tally of 553 sixes in international cricket.
| PLAYERS | NO. OF SIXES IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET |
| Rohit Sharma | 554* |
| Chris Gayle | 553 |
| Shahid Afridi | 476 |
| Brendon McCullum | 398 |
| Martin Guptill | 383 |
*(Rohit Sharma was still batting when the story was filed)
Earlier, Hasmatullah Shahidi’s dogged 80 and the young Azmatullah Omarazai’s gutsy 62 took Afghanistan to 272 for eight. The captain walked the talk as Afghanistan put up a much-improved effort with the bat compared to what they had managed in their tournament opener against Bangladesh.
His 121-run stand for the fourth wicket with 23-year-old Omarzai allowed Afghanistan to post a fighting total.
Jasprit Bumrah was by far the best bowler for the home team, delivering in both the powerplay and the death overs to end with figures of 4 for 39 in 10 overs. This was Bumrah’s best figures in a World Cup game.
