3 records that can be broken in today’s India vs Australia match of 2023 World Cup ft. Rohit Sharma and David Warner
Two ODI World Cup heavyweights Australia and India will kick off their 2023 campaign today at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium. Australia have won the title five times while India have taken the trophy home twice.
Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run-scorer in the tournament history while Glenn McGrath is the leading wicket-taker. Similarly, almost every run-scoring, wicket-taking or even fielding record is rife with players from these two countries.
Today is an opportunity for more such records to be broken. Let's have a look at three of these:
#1 Mitchell Starc could be the fastest to take 50 ODI World Cup wickets
After two chart-topping performances in the 2015 World Cup (22 wickets) and the 2019 World Cup (27 wickets), Mitchell Starc is on the verge of a record that'll solidify his legacy as one of the best bowlers ever to play in the competition.
If the ace pacer takes another today he'll become only the fifth bowler to reach the 50-wicket mark in World Cups. It'll be his 19th match in the tournament.
Others who reached the milestone took a lot more matches than him - Glenn McGrath (30 matches), Muttiah Muralitharan (30), Lasith Malinga (26) and Wasim Akram (34).
#2 India's Rohit Sharma is chasing Chris Gayle and Sachin Tendulkar's records
Indian captain Rohit Sharma needs just three more sixes today to break Chris Gayle's record for the most maximums in international cricket.
The West Indian legend hit 553 sixes in 483 matches between 1999 and 2021. Rohit is currently at 551 from 451 matches after 16 years in international cricket.
Twenty-three of these sixes from Rohit's bat have come from his 16 matches in ODI World Cups. He needs just five more to break Sachin Tendulkar's record of the most sixes by an Indian in the tournament. Tendulkar has 27 from 45 matches.
Australia are perhaps the best team for Rohit to breach both records. He has hit 121 sixes against the Kangaroos so far, the most against any opponent.
#3 David Warner and Rohit Sharma are behind the same record
It doesn't happen too often but we can actually see two players racing for the same record today.
Australia's David Warner and Rohit have often been compared for their stats, importance to their teams, and career trajectories. Today, one of them could win the record for being the fastest batter to 1000 runs in men's ODI World Cups.
Warner has 992 runs in 18 World Cup innings while Rohit is at 978 runs after 17 innings. The record is currently jointly held by Tendulkar and South Africa's AB de Villiers, who reached the milestone in 20 innings.