Five of Rohit Sharma's biggest records that would be hard to break

Rohit Sharma called time on his T20 international career after leading India to the 2024 T20 World Cup title. The outpouring of emotions one got to see from the 37-year-old showed just how much he had been craving for a major title win, with his previous one coming in 2013 in the form of a Champions Trophy. Moreover, Rohit had famously missed out on a spot in the Indian team that won the 2011 World Cup. This made the title win earlier this year his second World Cup victory, since he was part of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup.

In his long career, Rohit has established himself among the pantheon of great batters that have come out of India, particularly in limited overs cricket. It is to be noted, though, that while Rohit's Test career took a while to take off, he has been recognised among the best openers in the world in the format since he started playing in that position for India in 2019. Here, we take a look at some records that the Indian captain holds which could remain his for long after he decides to end his illustrious playing career.

Highest ODI score

Most of Rohit's great achievements came in ODI cricket and among those, this is arguably the most prominent. There were a flurry of double centuries that came in men's ODI cricket after Sachin Tendulkar broke that glass ceiling in February 2010, which meant that the record for the highest ODI score was re-written multiple times. And then, Rohit threw the gauntlet down with a 173-ball 264 in November 2014 and no one has come close to challenging that since. It came at the Eden Gardens in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka and this was also Rohit's comeback match after being out with a finger injury for three months. Rohit got to his 50 off 72, 100 off 100, 150 off 125, 200 off 151 and 250 off 166.

Most double centuries in ODI

One might think that scoring 264 runs in an ODI match would easily be a player's greatest ever achievement but not the case for Rohit. Despite the awe-inspiring nature of that score, it is worth debating if that is Rohit's biggest record, or the fact that it was just one of an eye-watering three double centuries that he has scored in his career. The first came on November 2, 2013 when he scored 209 off 158 balls against Australia. The second was the record 264 against Sri Lanka and the third was against Sri Lanka in December 2017 when he scored an unbeaten 208 in 153 balls.

Most centuries in a World Cup

The 2019 World Cup is not a fond memory for Indian players, or indeed, the Indian team. Rohit himself It came at a time when India's biggest batting stars were at the peak of their powers and Rohit was purring along. He started the tournament with an unbeaten 122 against South Africa and then scored 57 against Australia. In the third match against Pakistan, Rohit scored 140. This was followed by a couple of low scores and then a hat-trick of centuries came against England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Most sixes in international cricket

'Hit-man' is the nickname that is used for Rohit, largely made popular over the course of his years in the IPL. The fact that Rohit is an elegant batter who excels at timing his shot rather than powering them through is the reason why it may have surprised a few when he went past West Indies' Chris Gayle as the batter with most sixes in men's international cricket. He did so during India's match against Afghanistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Rohit has hit 620 sixes in his career while Gayle has 553. England captain Jos Buttler is the closest among active cricketers with 340 sixes.

Most T20I matches for India

Before the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rohit was among the few active cricketers whose career started at a time when T20 cricket was yet to blossom into a serious format. Indeed, he and Shakib Al Hasan were the only two players to have played every single edition of the T20 World Cup in that tournament. Rohit retired with 159 caps for India in the shortest format, making him the man with the most appearances in T20 internationals. His record may yet be usurped by Ireland's Paul Stirling who has played 145 matches thus far but the closest Indian to Rohit is Virat Kohli on 125 matches and he had retired from the format after this year's T20 World Cup as well. Among active Indians, it is Hardik Pandya who is closest at 102 caps and so, Rohit's status as the Indian with most T20I caps will hold for some time to come.