Rohit Sharma announced his comeback in T20Is with a spectacular innings against Afghanistan in the third T20I in Bengaluru. The Indian skipper was on fire at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The veteran opener top-scored for India by making an unbeaten 121 off 69 deliveries. During his stay at the crease, the 36-year-old batter hammered 11 fours and 8 sixes. This was his fifth century in T20 internationals, the most by any player in the format.
During his knock against Afghanistan in Bengaluru, Rohit Sharma broke multiple batting records. The Indian skipper now has smashed the most number of sixes in T20Is as captain. He smoked eight maximums on Wednesday against Afghanistan to jump over Aaron Finch and Eoin Morgan to take the No.1 position in the list of captains with the most sixes in T20Is.
Rohit Sharma has 90 sixes to his name in 53 T20Is for India now as captain, whereas Eoin Morgan is at No.2 now with 86 sixes to his name as England’s skipper. The T20 World Cup-winning captain for Australia, Aaron Finch is third on the list with 82 sixes, and Virat Kohli is in fourth place with 59 sixes. Rohit Sharma is just 10 sixes away from being the first-ever batter to complete 200 sixes in T20 internationals.
Apart from breaking Eoin Morgan’s world record, Rohit Sharma also equaled MS Dhoni’s record of winning 42 T20Is for India as captain and Babar Azam’s record of scoring three T20I centuries as captain. He also has the most runs for India as a T20I captain with 1647 runs in 53 T20Is. Virat Kohli is second in terms of most runs for India as a captain in T20Is with 1570 runs. Rohit Sharma only needs 26 runs to complete 4000 runs in T20Is and he will be the second Indian to achieve this feat following Virat Kohli.
Rohit Sharma Showcased His Batting And Leadership Skills In The Third T20I
The Third T20I between India and Afghanistan was a nail-biting encounter that saw the game being decided by a second Super Over. India batted first in Bengaluru and were reduced to 22/4 inside the powerplay but then skipper Rohit Sharma joined by Rinku Singh wreaked havoc at the M Chinnaswamy. The pair added 190 runs for the fifth wicket and India finished on 212/4 in 20 overs. In reply, Afghanistan riding on the back of half-centuries by Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaaz, and Gulbadin Naib, finished at 212/6.
The match went to the super over where both teams again tied at 16 runs. Rohit Sharma scored all 11 runs for India in the second super over and then asked Ravi Bishnoi to bowl the second super over. Bishnoi took two wickets to clinch the victory for India by 10 runs in the second and decisive super over. Rohit Sharma’s calculated risk of giving the ball to a spinner ahead of a pacer worked and India whitewashed Afghanistan in the third T20I.
India will now face England in a five-match Test series starting from January 25 with the first Test to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. The Indian players will get a lot of T20 match practice in the IPL 2024 ahead of the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to commence on June 1.
