4 records that can be broken in today’s India vs Netherlands match of the 2023 World Cup ft. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
It's the end of the 2023 World Cup group stage. After big wins, narrow wins, upsets, and upsetting performances, we'll end a whirlwind phase with a match between the top-placed side, India, and the bottom-placed one, the Netherlands.
A win for India won't mean much more to either team than a small boost of momentum for the hosts. A win for the Dutch would not only be the biggest upset a massive confidence shock to Rohit Sharma's unbeaten side, but also a big chance to make it to the Champions Trophy 2024 for Scott Edwards's team.
In the middle of this, there are also lined up a few massive records that are waiting to be broken. Check them out here:
#4 Virat Kohli needs one more century to break Sachin Tendulkar's all-time record
Let's start with the most obvious one. India's No. 3 Virat Kohli scored his 49th ODI hundred against South Africa at the Eden Gardens to equal Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most hundreds in ODIs.
Today, he can go one step further. Another century will make him the single owner of 50 hundreds in ODIs. Tendulkar reached the 49-century landmark in his 451st ODI innings; Kohli has a good chance of going past him in just his 278th.
#3 One more six can help Rohit Sharma break AB de Villiers' record
Indian captain Rohit Sharma has a flurry of records lined up. We have clubbed two of them related to sixes in one. He currently has 58 sixes in ODIs in 2023, the joint most for any player in a calendar year. If he hits one more today, he could go past AB de Villiers (58 sixes in 2015) and become the record leader.
Rohit also has 45 sixes in ODI World Cups overall. If he hits five today, he'll go past Chris Gayle (49 sixes) to be the highest six-hitter in the competition history.
#2 Bas de Leede could become the Netherlands' unequivocal top wicket-taker in World Cups
The Netherlands' biggest talent, Bas de Leede, is their top wicket-taker in the 2023 World Cup with 14 wickets. Interestingly and wholesomely this puts him at par with his father Timotheus de Leede, who took 14 wickets between 1996-2007. Tim took 14 matches to reach there, Bas has taken just seven innings for it.
If the right-arm pacer takes one more wicket today, he'll become the first Dutchman to 15 wickets in World Cups and the chart-topper. His skiddy pace and variations in the middle and death overs might just do the trick against India.
#1 Rohit Sharma can become the highest-scoring Indian captain at a World Cup
Rohit's dream patch of 648 runs in the 2019 World Cup came as India's vice-captain. As the captain in the 2023 edition, he hasn't scored nearly as many runs but has played a crucial aggressive role at the top of the order. Still, he has managed to collect 442 runs from eight matches at an average of 55.25.
If he scores 24 more runs today, he'll beat Sourav Ganguly (465 runs in eight innings in 2002/03) to become the highest run-scorer for India in a single edition of a World Cup.
The overall record is held by Kane Williamson (578 runs in 2019) and Rohit would need 136 runs to beat that today.