it joined and in a club only two Indians had entered before. Chasing 406 in the second ODI at Barsapara Stadium on Wednesday, the opener reached 12,000 men’s ODI runs in 54 balls, the exact 73 he needed when he walked out.
He is the seventh batter in the world to get there. Tendulkar sits on 18,426. Kohli, who crossed 15,000 in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, is on 15,080.
India sent West Indies in and were then asked to chase 406 after John Campbell, Shai Hope and Amir Jangoo all made hundreds in a record 405 for 7. Rohit Sharma and captain answered with a blazing opening stand.
By the end of the 16th over, India were 152 without loss. Gill was 73 off 45. Rohit was 73 off 54. That 73rd run of the innings took him to 12,000 runs.
West Indies helped the surge. Keemo Paul served a full toss outside off and Rohit smashed it straight down the ground for six. Paul had already gone for 39 by then. In the same burst, Shubman Gill stepped out to Roston Chase, dragged a heave from outside off toward deep mid-wicket and cleared the rope. The required rate stayed under control while both openers attacked.
Rohit Sharma reached the milestone in 12,973 balls faced. Only Virat Kohli was quicker, in 12,853 balls. That is the cleanest measure of how fast the two modern Indian greats have piled up runs in this format. Rohit Sharma also sits second on the fewest-innings list.
242 –
282 – Rohit Sharma
300 – Sachin Tendulkar
314 – Ricky Ponting
336 – Kumar Sangakkara
This was Rohit Sharma’s 282nd ODI innings and his 290th match. He came in with 11,927 runs after 32 off 35 in the series opener.
Guwahati has long been a happy ground for him. His previous two innings here brought 235 runs, including an unbeaten 152 against West Indies in 2018.
Rohit Sharma’s ODI place has been debated all year. He retired from Tests and T20Is and now plays only 50-over cricket. Ahead of this series, he told JioHotstar he is not thinking about the end.
“The thought will never cross my mind that the business I had is finished. As long as you’re playing, there is always something to look forward to. And I’m looking forward to the World Cup, looking at what lies ahead for me.”
He still needs more runs as an opener to reach 10,000 in that role, a mark only three men have touched. The World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year remains the target he keeps naming.
