The Mumbai boy holds the rare distinction of scoring two double centuries in one day cricket.
Rohit Sharma has entered history books by scoring the highest individual score of 264 against Sri Lanka in the 4th ODI against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Sharma who has often been criticised for remaining inconsistent for failing to convert the starts in to big scores made the most of the opportunity offered to him. Thus India is on the right track as far as the preparations for the 2015 World Cup is concerned. This is the only instance in the history of one day cricket where a player has registered two double hundreds. Moreover, only Indian batsmen viz Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag and Rohit Sharma have scored double tons in the international cricket. Sharma also surpassed Virendra Sehwag’s 219 runs as he had held the record of highest individual score by a batsman in limited overs cricket.
Rohit who was dropped on 4 by Thisara Perera at third man made the most of the opportunity offered to him to score a big innings. Kulasekara bowled the last over of the innings where Rohit hit one more boundary that took India past the 400-run mark. Rohit was dismissed off the final ball of the innings where he hit the ball straight towards Mahela at long off. The batsman was making a comeback into the Indian team after August. The performance will augur well for Rohit Sharma who failed to gain a place in the 2011 World Cup squad.
C. K Subramaniam former umpire and cricket coach said, “Rohit came, saw and conquered. He made easy meat of the hapless bowling and the leather hunt was complete. His memorable comeback innings bettered the records of both Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag. The Mumbai batsman was in hitting mood and played a historic innings at Eden Garden Kolkata and the capacity crowd enjoyed it. Kudos to Rohit Gurunath Sharma.”
Cricketers congrulated Rohit Sharma and posted comments on twitter.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni tweeted, “Very well batted Rohit. thats Rohit for everyone,sheer talent.Enjoy and Witness the class in action”.
Anil Kumble, “Record at Eden! Great knock @ImRo45! Take a bow! Made up for lost time! Batting at its best!#IndvsSL
Zaheer Khan, “Well done brothaman @ImRo45 !!! Really enjoyed watching u bat ! Way to go buddy ….”
Irfan Pathan, “Amazing shots. Pleasing to the eyes. Hardwork meets talent n becomes rohit Sharma. Well played buddy.”
Mohammad Kaif, “What a great innings by @ImRo45 .Huge. Congratulations on this terrific run marathon.”
Harbhajan Singh, “A record which is going to stay !! A delight 2 watch! Well done bro for creating history!”
VVS Laxman, “Wow !! What a special knock from a special player. Congrats @ImRo45 on an outstanding knock. Keep it up buddy”
Rohit also broke the record of number of fours hit in a single innings by hitting 33 boundaries. Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar previously held the record. Both of them had thumped 25 boundaries when they made a double hundred.
Incidentally, when Rohit composed his first double ton against Australia at Bangalore, he broke the record for most number of sixes in an innings by clouting 16 sixes. Rohit scored 186 runs in fours and sixes alone, making it the most by a player in an ODI innings. Rohit’s belligerence, which saw him go from 50 to 250 in just 94 balls, took India past 400 to register their fourth highest total in ODIs. India beat Sri Lanka by 153 runs to take a 4-0 lead in the five match series.
