Rohit Sharma etched his name into the cricket books on Sunday by becoming the world’s leading ODI century scorer, making a brilliant hundred at Lord’s that helped India stay alive in the third ODI series against England.The most impressive knock was Rohit’s eight ODI century in England, which took him past Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar and put him on the all-time list.
Hundreds of ODIs in the social world
- Rohit Sharma – 8 for England
- Sachin Tendulkar – 7 in UAE
- Saeed Anwar – 7 in UAE
- AB de Villiers – 7 for India
- Quinton de Kock – 7 for India
The century was another wonderful addition to Rohit’s glittering ODI legacy. Of all England batsmen, only Joe Root (10) has scored more ODI hundreds for the country, while former England opener Marcus Trescothick also has eight.With a lot of scrutiny after failing to register a fifty and a score in his previous eight ODI innings and with his future in mind, the 39-year-old responded very convincingly with his 34th ODI at the Home of Cricket.
Lord joins Rohit’s long list
The innings also saw Rohit score a couple of wickets at the iconic venue.At the age of 39 years and 80 days, he became the oldest batsman to score an ODI century at Lord’s and the oldest Indian to score an international century in all formats.More importantly, Rohit became the first Indian batsman to score an ODI hundred at Lord’s, surpassing Sourav Ganguly’s 90 against England in 2004, who held India’s highest ODI score at the venue for two decades.The event came in Rohit’s form. Facing Adil Rashid in the 31st over, the Indian opener swept the flying bulls off the corner for four to bring up his age. As the ball raced to the boundary, the entire Indian dressing room, including head coach Gautam Gambhir, went up in arms. Rohit accepted a standing ovation from the packed Lord’s crowd before receiving a warm hug from Virat Kohli.It was a measured innings that started cautiously before breaking out in vintage Rohit strokeplay, keeping opponents from questioning his position after long runs.
England make a full record before Rohit can answer
Earlier, England posted 387/3, the highest ODI total recorded at Lord’s.Ben Duckett hit a match-winning 141 to become the sixth batsman to score both Test and ODI centuries at Lord’s, while Jacob Bethell hit 91 in an opening partnership of 192.Joe Root continued his unbeaten run, extending his unbeaten run to 249 runs as he became the first England batsman to register six consecutive fifty-plus ODI scores. Jos Buttler then smashed an unbeaten 41 in 13 matches as England scored 63 runs off the last 19 balls.The late blitz also produced the fastest 50-plus partnership against India in ODI history, with Root and Buttler scoring at a rate of 19.89.