Rohit Sharma blasted 264 off 173 balls against Sri Lanka
Four years ago today, Rohit Sharma blasted his second ODI double hundred, which was also his second within a span of a year.
The Mumbaikar rode his luck to blast 264 off 173 balls at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata against a hapless Sri Lankan attack that had no idea how to contain him.
Having smashed 209 against Australia in November 2013 in Bengaluru, the 'Hitman' dismissed everything in his line of sight to march his way to the record ODI score that stands till now. With the feat, he became the first person in the history of ODI cricket to smash two double centuries.
Rohit and Kolkata have shared a relationship like no other and that day it seemed, he was determined to give back to the fans a bit more.
Virat Kohli, who was standing in as the captain in place of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opted to bat after winning the toss and the pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit went out to open the innings.
The pair were off to a solid start but Rahane perished for 28 in the seventh over and Ambati Rayudu fell soon after, leaving India in a spot of bother at 59/2 from 13 overs. Rayudu's wicket brought Kohli and Rohit together and the pair started to pile on the runs and misery on the visitors.
Kohli played second fiddle to Rohit, who was in full flow and brought his hundred up in the 32nd over and stepped on the accelerator as India looked to put a big total on the board. He took just 25 balls to reach 150 and then another 26 to reach the 200-run mark.
Rohit reached the landmark in the 46th over with a boundary through covers off Nuwan Kulasekara to become the only player to slam two double hundreds in ODIs. He brought it up off just 151 balls.
Although he lost Kohli in the meantime after the pair put on a 202-run stand for the third wicket, he made sure the run-rate doesn't drop and that's what made his innings so special. India finished with 404/5 from their 50 overs and Sri Lanka could only manage 251 in their chase -- which is 13 short of Rohit's own score in the match.
The 30-year-old was dropped on 4 by Thisara Perrera in the fifth over of the match and again on 201 by Seekkuge Prasanna in the 46th over. His essay came to an end on the last ball off the innings, when he was finally caught by Mahela Jayawardene at long off.
But the damage was done and he walked off the field to a thunderous applause after entertaining the crowd with 33 fours and nine sixes in his innings.
A few years later in 2017, Rohit punished the Lankans again, when he slammed 208 not out off 153 balls in Mohali to record his third triple century in ODIs.
Apart from Rohit, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Martin Guptill and Fakhar Zaman have scored double tons in the 50-over format.
