Former India captain Rohit Sharma scored 73 runs from 97 balls in the second ODI against Australia but failed to help the Shubman Gill-led side win the match and level the series. During his 73-run knock
in Adelaide on Thursday (October 23), Rohit broke multiple batting records, and on Saturday (October 25), during the third India-Australia ODI at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), he will have a chance to break many more records.
If Rohit manages to score at least 93 runs in the third ODI of the ongoing series in Australia, then he will become the highest run scorer for India in international cricket as an opener. As of now, Rohit has scored 15,666 runs as an opener in 376 innings of 351 matches. Virender Sehwag finished his career with 15,758 runs in 388 innings of 321 matches for India as an opener.
Most runs for India as opener (Tests+ODIs+T20Is)
| PLAYER | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST | 100/50 |
| Virender Sehwag | 321 | 388 | 15,758 | 319 | 36/65 |
| Rohit Sharma | 351 | 376 | 15,666 | 264 | 44/81 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 346 | 342 | 15,335 | 200* | 45/75 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 202 | 286 | 12,258 | 221 | 34/67 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 268 | 288 | 10,867 | 190 | 24/55 |
The overall record of scoring the most runs as an opener for one team in international cricket is in the name of former Sri Lankan captain and legendary batter Sanath Jayasuriya.
Jayasuriya played 502 matches as an opener from 1993 to 2011 and amassed a total of 19,232 runs in 559 innings. He is followed by Chris Gayle, David Warner, Graeme Smith, Desmond Haynes and Sehwag.
Most runs as opener (Tests+ODIs+T20Is)
| PLAYER | TEAM | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 502 | 559 | 19,232 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies | 438 | 503 | 18,812 |
| David Warner | Australia | 374 | 462 | 18,744 |
| Graeme Smith | South Africa | 340 | 418 | 16,938 |
| Desmond Haynes | West Indies | 354 | 438 | 16,120 |
| Virender Sehwag | India | 321 | 388 | 15,758 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 351 | 376 | 15,666 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 346 | 342 | 15,335 |
| Tamim Iqbal | Bangladesh | 387 | 447 | 15,153 |
| Alastair Cook | England | 250 | 374 | 15,110 |
In addition to that, Rohit will also have a chance to break Shahid Afridi’s record of hitting the most sixes in ODI cricket during the third ODI in Sydney.
Rohit, who made his ODI debut for India against Ireland in June 2007, has 346 sixes to his credit in 275 matches, whereas Afridi finished his career with 351 maximums in 398 matches.
Rohit needs to hit six more sixes to break Afridi’s record. The 38-year-old right-handed batter already holds the record of hitting the most sixes in international cricket.
Most sixes in ODIs
| PLAYER | TEAM(S) | MATCHES | RUNS | SIXES |
| Shahid Afridi | Asia, ICC, Pakistan | 398 | 8064 | 351 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 275 | 11,249 | 346 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies, ICC | 301 | 10,480 | 331 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka, Asia | 445 | 13,430 | 270 |
| MS Dhoni | India, Asia | 350 | 10,773 | 229 |
Rohit’s ODI record at SCG
Rohit has played five one-day matches so far in Sydney and scored 333 runs in five innings. His ODI batting at SCG is 66.67, and he has scored one century and two fifties there.
Rohit’s ODI scores at Sydney Cricket Ground
| RUNS | BALLS | 4/6s | AGAINST | DATE |
| 1 | 3 | 0/0 | Australia | February 24, 2008 |
| 66 | 87 | 6/0 | Australia | March 2, 2008 |
| 34 | 48 | 1/2 | Australia | March 26, 2015 |
| 99 | 108 | 9/1 | Australia | January 23, 2016 |
| 133 | 129 | 10/6 | Australia | January 12, 2019 |
In his last ODI match for India at SCG, Rohit scored 133 runs from 129 balls, and in his second-last match in Sydney, he got out for 99.
