Rohit Sharma has revealed that he never had a double-ton in his mind when he scored his first double century against Australia in 2013. The Indian opener scored 209 off just 158 deliveries during the innings, slamming 12 fours and a whopping 16 sixes.
Rohit was in conversation with India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, where the duo touched upon a range of topics. Reminiscing the series against Australia in which Rohit scored his first double-hundred, the Indian batsman said that it was a 'good challenge' to face the Aussie side.
“I know it was an important series for us, I had just started opening the batting for India. We had played the Champions Trophy and then we toured West Indies. After these two, we played the series against Australia. It was a good challenge for me to face this team. You always want to perform well against Australia. During Jaipur ODI, Yuvraj Singh told me that I have a good opportunity to show my skills and score big hundreds,” said Rohit to Ashwin during an Instagram live chat.
“Australia never gives up easily, they go an extra mile to win the match. It was a hard-fought series, Bengaluru ODI was the decider for us. I never thought I would score a double hundred. I just wanted to bat well. It was a nice and flat pitch
"I remember Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) telling me, this is a great opportunity for you. You have just started to open the batting. He told me this is a good opportunity for you to make a big score. I was getting 40s, 50s, 60s. That was a good talk we had before the game," the 33-year old said. (ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma goes creative in #KeepItUp challenge)
Rohit also revealed that when he went back after slamming the double-ton, some players told him that he could've made the world record for the highest score in men's ODIs if he had another over. (Virender Sehwag held the record at that point - 219 against West Indies).
"When I went back inside, someone was telling me, if you would have batted for another over or so you would have broken (Virender) Sehwag's record.
"The expectation in the dressing room is really high. There were three or four guys who wanted me to score 10 or 15 more runs, Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) was one of them and maybe Shikhar Dhawan too," recalled Rohit. (ALSO READ: We must win at least two World Cups out of the next three: Rohit Sharma)
Since then, Rohit Sharma has scored two more double centuries, slamming three in total. He also holds the record for the highest score in men's ODIs now (264 against Sri Lanka).
He is the only player to score more than one double century in ODIs.
