ADELAIDE OVAL, Australia — Indian captain and prolific opener Rohit Sharma etched his name further into the annals of cricket history on Thursday, delivering a spectacular performance in the second One Day International against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. The “Hitman” not only anchored the Indian innings with a crucial knock of 73 off 97 balls but, in the process, shattered multiple longstanding records, most notably leapfrogging Sourav Ganguly to become India’s third-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket.
Sharma achieved the historic feat when he struck a boundary off Adam Zampa in the 21st over, pushing his career tally past Ganguly’s 11,221 runs. He now sits behind only the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and the current batting titan Virat Kohli on India’s all-time ODI run list.
The milestones did not stop there for the Mumbai-born star. The day proved to be a triple-record bonanza:
- Highest Run-Scorer as Opener: Sharma also surpassed Ganguly’s record of 9,146 runs to become the leading ODI run-scorer for India in the opening position.
- Asian Batting Pioneer in Australia: His innings made him the first-ever Asian cricketer to breach the 1,000-run mark in India-Australia ODI matches played on Australian soil.
- SENA Sixes King: By smashing his first maximum of the match, Sharma became the first Asian batsman to record 150 sixes in the challenging conditions of SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia combined).
Sharma’s monumental performance underlines his status as one of the modern era’s greatest white-ball cricketers, consistently converting his strong starts into history-making knocks. While his day at the crease was eventually cut short by Mitchell Starc, his dazzling display, which included 7 fours and 2 sixes, ensured that his name dominates the cricketing headlines, proving once again why he is referred to as the ‘Hitman’.
