On 6th June,2019, Rohit Sharma itched his name in the record books after slamming five centuries in a single edition of ICC Cricket World Cup. The Indian batsman became the first and only cricketer to achieve this unique feat.
The swashbuckling opener accumulated 648 runs at a terrific average of 81 and finished the World Cup as the highest scorer by a fair margin.
Rohit smashed his first four centuries against South Africa, Pakistan, England and Bangladesh. His fifth of the tournament came against the neighbouring country Sri Lanka where the Mumbai-born batsman played a match-defining knock of 103 runs, propelling India towards an assured victory.
In a strangely fitting way, the 33-year-old broke Kumar Sangakkara’s record of four centuries in a single edition against the same opponent the Sri Lankan legend represented.
Batting first, Sri Lanka lost a flurry of early wickets with the scoreboard reading four wickets down at a meagre score of 55. Angelo Matthews stabilised the innings, propelling his nation towards the respectable total. In return, both Indian openers – KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma – combined together for 189 runs before Rohit got dismissed in the 30th over. Later on, even Rahul completed his century after enduring a rusty start.
Angelo Mathews 💯
Rohit Sharma 💯
KL Rahul 💯#OnThisDay last year, a complete performance from India saw them to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in #CWC19.Log in to the ICC vault for exclusive extended highlights of the game 🎥 https://t.co/nSKrA56M3J pic.twitter.com/ZHXn3e7NIx
— ICC (@ICC) July 6, 2020
With that knock, Rohit also equalled the seemingly herculean record of Sachin Tendulkar for scoring six centuries in the World Cup. While Sachin took 44 innings to reach his sixth century, the Mumbai Indian skipper made it look too easy after scoring six tons in just 16 innings.
Earlier this year, Rohit became the fastest to reach 7000 ODI runs as an opener, surpassing both Sachin and Proteas’ batting maestro Hashim Amla.
Since his debut for the Men In Blue, the stylish right-handed batsman has evolved into the indispensable member of the national squad, enthralling and enchanting the cricket fanatics with a freakish batting aesthetics and astounding consistency.
Some players always rise to the occasion against a specific nation. For Rohit, it has arguably been Sri Lanka. Of three double centuries he scored in an ODI cricket, two of them came against none other but the neighbouring island nation.
