Rohit Sharma crosses 16,000 international runs as opener

Posted by By Cricket Enthusiast
Rohit Sharma scripts history, becomes only the second Indian opener to... cricket news image
Original source image for Rohit Sharma scripts history, becomes only the second Indian opener to....

Rohit Sharma became only the second Indian opener after Virender Sehwag to score 16,000 international runs across formats during the first ODI against Afghanistan in Dharamsala on Saturday.

Rohit needed six runs at the start of the match to reach the landmark, according to a Times of India report. The India opener entered the match with 15,994 international runs as an opener and reached the mark in his 384th innings for India.

Rohit joins Sehwag in India’s 16,000-run opener group

Rohit is now the seventh batter overall to score 16,000 international runs as an opener. The list named in the source includes Sanath Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle, David Warner, Graeme Smith, Desmond Haynes, Virender Sehwag and Rohit.

Jayasuriya leads the opener tally with 19,298 runs, followed by Gayle with 18,867 runs and Warner with 18,744 runs. Sehwag remains India’s highest run-scorer as an opener with 16,119 runs in 400 innings across 332 matches.

Sachin Tendulkar finished with more than 34,000 international runs overall, but Tendulkar’s tally as an opener was 15,335 runs. That figure left Tendulkar outside the 16,000-run opener group named in the report.

The milestone came with Rohit still active in ODIs

Rohit’s format-wise record before the Afghanistan ODI stood at 11,577 runs in 282 ODIs, 4,301 runs in 67 Tests and 4,231 runs in 159 T20Is. The source stated that Rohit has since retired from Tests and T20Is.

Rohit, aged 39 in the report, continues to play ODIs for India. The Dharamsala innings therefore added to both his overall ODI record and his international record as an opener.

Rohit also passed Jacques Kallis on the ODI run list

Rohit crossed Jacques Kallis’ ODI tally when he reached three runs in the innings. Kallis scored 11,579 ODI runs in 328 matches between 1996 and 2014, while Rohit moved past that mark in his 283rd one-day international.

Rohit moved to eighth on the all-time ODI run list mentioned in the source. Tendulkar leads that list with 18,246 ODI runs.