Rohit Sharma Creates History, Becomes 1st Overseas Player To...

Rohit Sharma on Sunday (July 19) became the first overseas player to reach 1500 ODI runs in England. The Indian opener achieved the milestone in the third ODI against England at Lord’s — in what was being reported as potentially his last match in international cricket.

Rohit needed only 35 runs to get there and did so in 32 balls. The former captain didn’t look in good form in the first two matches of the series, but here, on a difficult pitch, he looked close to his vintage best.

The right-hander weathered a testing opening spell from Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson, both of whom consistently found the right lengths and generated seam movement with the new ball. His first boundary of the day was streaky but necessary because Gill was relegating

himself to a hole at the other end.

Rohit rapidly shifted gears once Josh Tongue entered the attack. He punished anything short or on the pads with trademark pulls and flicks, including two towering sixes over backward square leg, while also picking up boundaries with controlled placement rather than reckless aggression.

Tongue’s introduction yielded 14 runs, and Rohit followed it up with another productive over against Sam Curran, taking India past the powerplay without losing a wicket.

Most runs in England by visiting batters

Player	Country	Span	Innings	Runs	Highest Score	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s	Ducks
Rohit Sharma	India	2011–2026	30	1501*	140	62.54	89.61	7	7	2
Virat Kohli	India	2011–2026	35	1419	107	50.67	91.48	1	13	2
Kane Williamson	New Zealand	2013–2019	23	1393	148	69.65	85.98	4	9	1
Ricky Ponting	Australia	1999–2010	37	1387	126	42.03	79.43	3	6	1
Viv Richards	West Indies	1975–1991	29	1345	189*	64.04	84.64	4	5	1
Chris Gayle	West Indies	2000–2019	36	1258	132*	37.00	78.52	1	7	1
Rahul Dravid	India	1996–2011	32	1238	145	45.85	80.65	2	11	1
Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	1998–2014	32	1197	144	41.27	81.15	3	5	0
Babar Azam	Pakistan	2016–2021	26	1183	158	51.43	91.28	3	5	1
Shikhar Dhawan	India	2013–2022	22	1142	125	60.10	97.60	4	4	0

(Note: This is as of the 14th over in the second innings.)

A lot of Rohit’s success in England came at the 2019 World Cup, where he was the top run-scorer with 648 runs in nine matches at an average of 81. He would love to make this innings a reminder of his quality and experience at this level, amid reports that the selectors have told him he’s no longer in their plans for the 2023 edition.