Rohit Sharma entered his name in the history books on Saturday (June 13) by becoming the first cricketer to score 16,000 international runs as an opening batter for India
. The 39-year-old right-handed batter from Mumbai needed six runs in the first ODI against Afghanistan in Dharamsala to reach the milestone and achieved it by smashing Azmatullah Omarzai for a six off the third ball of the third over during India’s chase of 195.Rohit, who scored 16 runs off 16 balls in the series opener, now has 16,010 runs in 384 innings across 359 matches as an opener for India.
Rohit Sharma as opener for India
| FORMAT | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | STRIKE RATE | 100/50 | 4/6s |
| Test | 38 | 66 | 2697 | 212 | 42.80 | 58.73 | 9/8 | 319/56 |
| ODIs | 196 | 194 | 9563 | 264 | 54.33 | 96.12 | 31/48 | 952/330 |
| T20Is | 125 | 124 | 3750 | 121* | 32.60 | 143.02 | 5/27 | 349/184 |
| Overall | 359 | 384 | 16,010 | 264 | 45.22 | 93.28 | 45/83 | 1620/570 |
In the list of players with the most international runs as an opener for India, Rohit is followed by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
Sehwag scored
15,758 runs in 388 innings of 321 matches as India’s opener, while Tendulkar finished his career with 15,335 runs in 342 innings across 346 matches in the same role.
Most runs for India as opener in international matches
| PLAYER | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS |
| Rohit Sharma | 359 | 384 | 16,010 |
| Virender Sehwag | 321 | 388 | 15,758 |
| 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 |
Rohit is only the second Indian batter after Sehwag to score 16,000 international runs as an opener.
Sehwag amassed 16,119 runs in 332 international matches as an opener between 2001 and 2013. In addition to representing India, he (Sehwag) also played international matches for Asia XI and ICC World XI.
Most runs as opener in international cricket by Indian batters
| PLAYER | TEAM | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS |
| Virender Sehwag | India, ICC, Asia | 332 | 400 | 16,119 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 359 | 384 | 16,010 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 346 | 382 | 15,335 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | India | 202 | 286 | 12,258 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 268 | 288 | 10,867 |
| Sourav Ganguly | India | 243 | 237 | 9157 |
| Gautam Gambhir | India | 187 | 228 | 8148 |
| KL Rahul | India | 136 | 178 | 6440 |
| Krishnamachari Srikkanth | India | 189 | 217 | 6153 |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | India | 108 | 132 | 5329 |
The record for the most runs in international cricket as an opening batter is held by Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 19,298 runs while opening the innings in 506 matches across formats for Sri Lanka and Asia XI between 1993 and 2011.
He is followed by Chris Gayle (18,867), David Warner (18,744), Graeme Smith (16,950), Desmond Haynes (16,120), Sehwag (16,119), and Rohit (16,110*).
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 |
| Desmond Haynes | West Indies | 354 | 16,120 |
| Virender Sehwag | India, ICC, Asia | 332 | 16,119 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 359 | 16,010 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 346 | 15,335 |
| Tamim Iqbal | Bangladesh, ICC, World | 391 | 15,210 |
| Alastair Cook | England | 250 | 15,110 |
Jayasuriya also holds the record for the most international runs as an opening batter for a single team. The legendary left-hander opened the innings in 502 matches for Sri Lanka across formats and scored 19,232 runs.
Most runs as opening batter in international matches (for one country)
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | RUNS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 502 | 19,232 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies | 438 | 18,812 |
| David Warner | Australia | 374 | 18,744 |
| Graeme Smith | South Africa | 340 | 16,938 |
| Desmond Haynes | West Indies | 354 | 16,120 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 359 | 16,010 |
| Virender Sehwag | India | 321 | 15,758 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 346 | 15,335 |
| Tamim Iqbal | Bangladesh | 387 | 15,153 |
| Alastair Cook | England | 250 | 15,110 |
He remains the only batter in the world to have scored more than 19,000 international runs as an opener for a single team.
