Rohit Sharma added another feather to his cap on Saturday as he completed 20000 runs in international cricket. He walked out with his partner, Yashasvi Jaiswa,l to begin India’s chase of 271 at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Before notching up his 61st ODI hundred, Rohit reached the milestone as he added 27 runs to his account.
Rohit retired from Test cricket earlier this year with 4301 runs to his credit. He hung up his T20I boots last year after leading India to the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, amassing 4231 runs in the shortest format of the game. As Rohit focuses on just one format, the run-scoring process hasn’t stopped in ODIs; rather, it has only got better.
On Saturday, Rohit hit a 73-ball 75, with the help of 3 sixes
and 7 boundaries. Much before falling prey to Keshav Maharaj, the former Indian captain completed 20000 runs in international cricket, in the 14th over. He became the 14th batter in the history of international cricket to reach this milestone.
Rohit Sharma’s Runs Across Formats
| Formats | Matches | Runs |
| Tests | 67 | 4301 |
| ODIs | 279 | 11,516 |
| T20Is | 159 | 4231 |
Rohit’s 75 against South Africa in Vizag helped him dethrone former Proteas captain AB de Villiers to become the 13th-highest scorer in international cricket. He also became the 4th Indian batter to accumulate 20,000 runs or more in international cricket.
Indian Batters With More Than 20,000 Runs in International Cricket
| Batter Name | Matches | Runs |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 664 | 34,357 |
| Virat Kohli | 555 | 27,910 |
| Rahul Dravid | 509 | 24,208 |
| Rohit Sharma | 504 | 20,048 |
India had a rollicking start to their 271-run chase against India in Vizag. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a 155-run opening stand before the former was dismissed by Maharaj in the 26th over.
Earlier, India fought back brilliantly after Quinton de Kock’s 23rd ODI hundred pushed South Africa into a strong position. Prasidh Krishna’s fiery second spell, where he took three wickets in four overs, turned the game as the Proteas collapsed from 168/2 to 199/5. Kuldeep Yadav then cleaned up the tail with 4/41, restricting South Africa to 270 in the series decider after a promising start built by de Kock and Temba Bavuma.
(With Agency Inputs)
