Rohit Sharma opened the innings for India in the third ODI against Afghanistan on Saturday (June 20) and played a knock of 79 runs at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. He faced 69 balls during his stay at the crease, smashing nine fours and three sixes.
Rohit shared a 170-run opening partnership in 22.5 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal (110 off 86 balls) during India’s chase of 219 and, in the process, broke the record for the most runs scored by an Indian opener in international cricket.
Rohit, who has opened the batting for India in all three formats, now has 16,137 runs in 386 innings from 361 international matches as an opener. He has surpassed Virender Sehwag, who finished his career with 16,119 runs in 400 innings from 332 matches as an opening
batter.
Most runs by Indian as opener in international cricket
| PLAYER | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | 361 | 386 | 16,137 |
| Virender Sehwag | 332 | 400 | 16,119 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 346 | 382 | 15,335 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 202 | 286 | 12,258 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 268 | 288 | 10,867 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 243 | 237 | 9157 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 187 | 228 | 8148 |
| KL Rahul | 136 | 178 | 6440 |
| Krishnamachari Srikkanth | 189 | 217 | 6153 |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | 108 | 132 | 5329 |
During his playing days, apart from representing the Indian men’s cricket team, Sehwag also played for Asia XI and ICC XI.
The overall record for the most runs in international cricket as an opening batter belongs to former Sri Lanka captain and legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya opened the innings in 506 matches across formats for Sri Lanka and Asia XI, scoring 19,298 runs in 563 innings.
Jayasuriya is followed by Chris Gayle, David Warner, and Graeme Smith, who scored 18,867, 18,744, and 16,950 runs respectively as openers in international cricket. Rohit is now fifth on the list with 16,137 runs.
Most runs as opening batter in international cricket
| PLAYER | TEAM(S) | MATCHES | RUNS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka, Asia | 506 | 19,298 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies, ICC | 441 | 18,867 |
| David Warner | Australia | 374 | 18,744 |
| Graeme Smith | South Africa, ICC, Africa | 342 | 16,950 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 361 | 16,137 |
| Desmond Haynes | West Indies | 354 | 16,120 |
| Virender Sehwag | India, ICC, Asia | 332 | 16,119 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 346 | 15,335 |
| Tamim Iqbal | Bangladesh, ICC, World | 391 | 15,210 |
| Alastair Cook | England | 250 | 15,110 |
Rohit, who made his international debut for India in an ODI against Ireland in Belfast on June 23, 2007, has scored 2,697 runs as an opener in 38 Tests, 9,690 runs in 198 ODIs, and 3,750 runs in 125 T20Is.
Rohit Sharma’s record as opener
| FORMAT | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | 100/50 |
| Tests | 38 | 66 | 2697 | 212 | 42.80 | 9/8 |
| ODIs | 198 | 196 | 9690 | 264 | 54.43 | 31/49 |
| T20Is | 125 | 124 | 3750 | 121* | 32.60 | 5/27 |
| Overall | 361 | 386 | 16,137 | 264 | 45.32 | 45/84 |
Only Sachin Tendulkar has scored more ODI runs for India as an opening batter than Rohit.
