India vice-captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday broke Sanath Jayasuriya’s 22-year-old record of most international runs as an opener in a calendar year.
Coming into the third and final ODI against the West Indies in Cuttack, Rohit was nine short of the former Sri Lankan opener, who scored 2387 runs in 1997.
When the 32-year-old got out for a run-a-ball 63 at the Barabati Stadium, Rohit aggregated 2442 runs in 2019. He smashed ten centuries and as many half-centuries across formats this year, averaging 53.08 in 47 innings.
Amazing end to greatest year for @ImRo45 wish you many more success shaane…
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) December 22, 2019
Rohit was also named ‘Man of the Series’ after Virat Kohli and Co. chased down a record 316 target to win the three-match ODI series against the Kieron Pollard-led side 2-1 in Cuttack.
“Extremely grateful for the year I’ve had. A World Cup victory would have been nice, but as a team, throughout the year, whether red ball or white-ball cricket, the team came together really well. Personally, I’ve enjoyed batting, but there’s no way I’m stopping.
“There’s an exciting year coming up. I understand my batting really well. I want to play within my limits; knowing the game plan you want to execute is very important.
“Even in the red-ball format against South Africa, it was going to be challenging. Once we start traveling, we want to win games and stay on top of the table,” Rohit, who scored 258 runs in the three ODIs with one century and a fifty against West Indies, said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
