Rohit Sharma: A Legend In The Making
His stroke play is aesthetically pleasing, his ability to transfer his weight onto either foot with ease makes him a joy to watch, and with his stunning performances in the 2019 World Cup, he has emerged as India’s talisman with the bat.
Over the last five years, Rohit Sharma has taken batting to a whole new level. Moreover, he has taken to opening the batting like a fish to water.
Rohit’s career can be divided into two parts - before he became an opener, and after. For the first six years of his career, Rohit floated around the middle order. It was clear that he was gifted, but the talent did not translate into runs with the bat. In the 79 innings that he played as a non-opener, Rohit scored 1967 runs at an average of 31.72, with just 2 hundreds and 12 fifties.
It was only in 2013 that MS Dhoni produced a masterstroke, promoting Rohit to the top of the order to open the batting. He has not looked back since then. Opening the batting allows Rohit to take his time in the middle, assess the conditions and get settled. Once he gets his eye in, he is an absolute treat to watch.
As an opener, Rohit has scored a stunning 6690 runs at an average of 58.68, including 25 hundreds and 30 fifties. He is the only batsman in the history of ODI cricket to have scored three double hundreds.
In the 2019 World Cup, Rohit has emerged as the fulcrum of the Indian batting line-up. He has scored a staggering 647 runs already in the competition, and is just 27 runs short of breaking the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most runs in a single edition of the competition. He has also scored five hundreds in this World Cup, becoming the first batsman to do so.
Rohit is only 32 years old and has plenty of cricket left in him. He has already scored 8657 runs in ODI cricket, including 27 hundreds and 42 fifties. If he can continue in the same vein, he can establish himself as one of the greatest ODI batsmen of all time, and, most importantly, win a lot more matches for India.
‘The Hitman’ has well and truly arrived.
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