India's captain Rohit Sharma prepares to play a shot during the second Twenty20 international cricket match against Bangladesh in Rajkot
India's stand-in skipper for the three-match series against Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma, took centre stage in the home team's emphatic eight-wicket win in Rajkot in the second T20I with his blazing 85. The knock did not just help India chase down the target of 154 in just 15.4 overs and thereby level the series 1-1, it also helped Rohit script a plethora of records.
Playing his 100th T20I for India, the first from his nation and second in the world, the skipper carved a stellar innings filled with typical Rohit-Sharma shots as he notched up his half-century in just 23 deliveries - again, the joint second-fastest in T20Is. So fierce was Rohit and the India's opening partnership that the hosts amassed 113 runs within 10 overs. The pair notched up their fourth century-plus stand- the most in T201 cricket - before Shikhar Dhawan fell for 27-ball 31. Rohit's innings looked he was all set for a century after the 118-run opening stand, but he eventually was dismissed for 85 off 43 - an innings laced with six fours and as many maximums.
With his tally of six maximums on Thursday, Rohit surpassed Dhoni to become the Indian captain with most sixes in T20I cricket. Rohit now has 37 sixes from 17 innings while Dhoni stands second with 34 from 62 innings. Virat Kohli, who has been rested for the T20I contest against Bangladesh, stands third on the list with 26 sixes from 26 innings.
Rohit also surpassed Windies batsman Chris Gayle to score the most sixes in international cricket in 2019. He now has a tally of 66 sixes across formats this year. He also surpassed Kohli to become the leading run-getter across format in 2019. He now has 2061 runs in 38 matches as against Kohli's 2047 in 36 matches.
Rohit also equalled two other Kohli's record in the format. The knock of 85 runs in Rajkot was his 22nd fifty-plus score in T20I cricket, the joint-most by a batsman along with Kohli. It was also his sixth half-century plus score in T20Is as a captain of India, the joint-most for a skipper in the format along with the 31-year-old.
"Always know this is a good track to bat on and with dew coming in it will be difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball and we took maximum advantage of that. I never underestimate the opposition, particularly the bowlers... all these years I have only tried to do my best when I have the bat in my hand. I knew the conditions were perfect and there was no turn on offer, all I wanted to do was remain stationed and tonk the ball," said Rohit after accepting the Man of the Match trophy.
