India opening batsman Rohit Sharma is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in limited-overs cricket at the moment. Ever since Rohit started opening for Team India, the cricketing world saw a completely different avatar of the Mumbaikar.
No wonder, Rohit owns some of the most breathtaking and mind-boggling records to his name in white-ball cricket. The 33-year-old created a world record when he scored five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup last year.
The Nagpur-born cricketer also has the world record of the highest individual score in ODIs – 264 runs – which came against Sri Lanka in 2014. In fact, Rohit is the only player to register three double centuries in ODIs. Adding to that, Rohit is the only player to smash four T20I centuries in the history of the shortest format.
Speaking about Rohit’s impact in world cricket, veteran Pakistan batsman and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal recently heaped praises on India vice-captain in limited-overs. Akmal explained what really makes Rohit such a phenomenal batsman in the international arena.
“Amazing, unbelievable batsman. The kind of joy you get while watching him bat is immense. His timing, temperament, and commitment towards batting is just unbelievable. Scoring 200s, 150s is very tough. He has two double hundreds I guess (Rohit has three). And look at the recent World Cup, he scored five centuries,” Akmal told Pakistan broadcast journalist Sawera Pasha on her YouTube chat show Cric Cast.
‘He can hit boundaries with such grace, can rotate the strike with singles too. The biggest plus point is his power-hitting; he can hit big shots and sixes,” the 38-year-old added.
Akmal also gave examples of Rohit along with Babar Azam and Virat Kohli stating that youngsters who aspire to become a top-quality batsman should learn from these modern-day cricket stars.
“Youngsters, who want to learn the art of batting, should watch him, Babar Azam, Virat Kohli,” Akmal added further.
Rohit is the seventh-highest run-getter for India in ODIs, having accumulated as many as 9115 runs in 224 matches with an impressive average of 49.27. He also has 29 centuries and 43 fifties to his name in the 50-over format.
In the shortest format of the game, Rohit is sitting just behind Kohli at the number two spot. The ‘Hitman’ has amassed 2773 runs in 108 T20 internationals with a strike-rate of 138.78. Rohit has smashed four hundreds and 21 half-centuries in T20Is.
