In which year did Rohit Sharma score his most international 100s?
Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who is among the most prolific cricketers in the world, is known for his swashbuckling and aggressive brand of batting. He is most renowned for taking the bowlers on when the ball is new and still swinging around in the air.
The Mumbai cricketer is known for his flair as well as elegance when it comes to playing shots along the ground, while not being reluctant to hit it in the air either. In fact, his pull and hook shots have won him fans across the globe.
Rohit has a total of 48 international centuries to his name, of which 12 have come in Test cricket, 31 in ODIs, and five in T20Is. Unsurprisingly, his record is the best in ODIs, which is also known to be his forte and where he enjoys batting the most.
In this piece, we take a look at the years in which Rohit scored his most international tons.
#5 2013 - 4 centuries
The year in which Rohit made his Test debut, 2013, was the one in which he scored four centuries. The most special of these was, of course, the 177 he bagged on debut against the West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He followed it up with an unbeaten 111 in the next Test at the Wankhede Stadium.
The second Test ton of Rohit's came in Sachin Tendulkar's last international match and was seen, in many ways, as the passing of the baton. In ODI cricket, Rohit scored his first-ever double century against Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru that year - a match-winning 209.
#4 2015 - 4 centuries
2015 was also a productive year for Rohit, as he piled up four centuries across all formats. This was when he was still new to Test cricket, and hence three of these centuries came in ODIs, and one in a T20I. The latter was a stellar 106 against South Africa at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, albeit in a losing cause.
In ODIs, Rohit's back-breaking 138 against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in a bilateral series game was scintillating to watch. He also player an exciting knock of 137 against Bangladesh at the same venue in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup a few months later.
#3 2018 - 7 centuries
Rohit seemed to be coming of age around the 2018 mark, and this was when he started dominating bowling attacks across the world. In this calendar year, he piled up seven centuries, two of which came in T20Is. The first of these - an unbeaten 100 against England helped India register a win over their hosts in Bristol.
In ODIs, three of the five centuries he scored came against tough opponents in difficult conditions - 115 vs South Africa in Port Elizabeth, 137 not out against England in Nottingham, and an unbeaten 111 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai in an Asia Cup encounter held in neutral territory.
#2 2017 - 8 centuries
Rohit had an excellent time with the bat in hand in the year 2017, when he piled up eight centuries in total. In ODIs, as expected, he was his most fearsome, scoring five tons, of which the cherry was the unbeaten 208 he bagged against Sri Lanka in Mohali. This was his third double ton in ODIs.
A fine 103 not out against Sri Lanka in a Test in Nagpur, the city where he was born, was special for Rohit given that it was just his third in this format of the game. This ton of his also took four years coming from the two he piled up in his debut series against the West Indies in 2013.
#1 2019 - 10 centuries
The most number of tons that Rohit has scored in his career came in 2019. This was when he was undoubtedly at his most prolific and appeared to be taking center stage in almost every match that he was walking out to bat in. His exceptional stroke-making put the fear of God in almost every bowler.
In this year, Rohit was on fire in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup held in England, in which he piled up tons against South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, England, and Sri Lanka. A 133 earlier in the year against Australia in Sydney also stood out.
To go with this, the two tons he scored in the same Test against South Africa in Vizag, followed by another in the one in Ranchi established his legacy in the longest format of the game as well.