Rohit Sharma and the art of revolutionizing batting in ODI and T20I cricket

When he started out in his international cricket career, Rohit Sharma was labelled a ‘talent’. He had the impact but he was not capable of scoring big in this stage. When he got out cheaply, many critics would say that before one could finish cooking Maggi noodles, Rohit’s innings would be over. For many years, the word ‘talent’ would stick to his career and threaten to derail it. However, in the last eight years, the evolution of Rohit has been such that he has become the ‘Hitman’ and not ‘talent’. The word ‘Hitman’ has come about due to his exploits in the ODI and T20I format.

It all began in 2013 during the ICC Champions Trophy. Promoted to open the batting, he formed a formidable partnership with Shikhar Dhawan as India won the tournament in grand style. However, it was the seven-match ODI series against Australia in India in the same year that saw Rohit blossom into something spectacular. In the match in Jaipur, Rohit blasted 141 as India chased down 360 with just under 10 overs to spare. That knock against Australia transformed into something bigger in the final ODI in Bangalore, when Rohit created history and became the third player after Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag to hit a double century in ODIs.

From that point in time, Rohit’s blueprint of batting at the top evolved. The right-hander would go big in the powerplay, play careful and risk-free cricket in the middle overs and then tear the bowling to shreds in the death overs. This method has fetched him over 9000 runs, three double centuries in ODIs and four tons in Twenty20 Internationals. Rohit now has the highest individual score in ODI cricket, which is 264 against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2014.

Rohit Sharma on par with Virat

If Virat Kohli is the greatest player, then Rohit is on par when it comes to impact. In the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, Rohit smashed five centuries and hit 648 runs in the tournament against England. In the last eight years, Kohli and Rohit have been on top of the run-charts in ODIs. Kohli has 8154 runs at an average of 64 while Rohit has 7137 runs at an average of 59. However, while Kohli bats at 3, Rohit opens the batting.

In the last eight years, Rohit has been the best opener in ODIs by a country mile. For openers who have scored over 5000 runs, only David Warner and Jonny Bairstow average just over 50. However, Rohit is close to 60 and he has over 7000 runs. When it comes to opening in ODIs, Rohit is in a different league altogether.

However, what might make Rohit the ultimate X-factor from Kohli is his six-hitting ability. Rohit is one of the two players who has hit 100 sixes combined in all formats against one opponent. Chris Gayle has hit over 100 sixes against England combined. Rohit’s special is against Australia, where he has hit 101 sixes in all formats combined. This includes a whopping 76 alone in ODIs. Rohit is the leading six-hitter in ODIs with 244. Overall, he is third with 423 sixes in all formats. Rohit is the leading six-hitter in Twenty20 Internationals as well. From ‘talent’ to ‘hitman’, Rohit’s journey has been simply phenomenal.