Former Indian legends Irfan Pathan and Kris Srikkanth, during a recent interaction, were asked to share their opinion on Rohit Sharma as an opener.
Rohit has been unstoppable since he made a move up the order, back in 2013 Champions Trophy. He has amassed as many as 7050 runs in 136 matches facing the new ball.
His contributions in ODI cricket since occupying the opening slot has been unparalleled, slamming sixty 50+ scores in 136 games.
As many as 27 of his 29 ODI tons have come as an opener, apart from the three double-tons and 31 half-centuries.
However, the watershed moment of his career arrived during the 2019 ODI World Cup where he smashed five centuries in the tournament.
Also, Rohit was drafted into the Test side as an opener for the first time in his red-ball career. Further, ‘Chikka’ rated the Mumbaikar amongst the top three or five openers in ODI cricket.
“What is the greatest quality in Rohit is that he goes for those big hundreds and double hundreds. That is something amazing. In a one-day match, going for 150, 180, 200, imagine where you are going to take your team to. That is the greatness if Rohit Sharma. He is definitely in the top three or five all-time openers as far as one-day cricket is concerned,” Srikkanth said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’.
Even, Pathan included Rohit in the same bracket as legendary Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.
“Definitely top three for sure. Everybody has seen Sachin paaji, the biggest legend in world cricket not only Indian cricket. He will always be No. 1. No.2, I thing Sehwag has had a big impact as an opener in one-day cricket. And No.3 is definitely Rohit, and he hasn’t finished yet,” Pathan added.
