Rohit Sharma has added another milestone to his illustrious career by becoming the oldest Indian cricketer to play an ODI match. The veteran opener featured in India’s playing XI for the first ODI against
Afghanistan at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday, surpassing a long-standing record held by 1983 World Cup hero Mohinder Amarnath.
India entered the three-match ODI series on the back of a dominant performance against Afghanistan earlier in the week and handed Rohit a return to international cricket after he recovered from the hamstring injury he picked up during the IPL. There was a real possibility of Rohit missing the series, but the legend cleared a late fitness test at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
At 39 years and 44 days old, Rohit overtook Amarnath, who was 39 years and 36 days old when he made his final ODI appearance for India against the West Indies at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on October 30, 1989.
The landmark is another addition to Rohit’s remarkable ODI career. The Indian skipper is among the format’s most prolific run-scorers, having amassed more than 11,000 ODI runs and over 20,000 international runs across formats. He is also third on the all-time list of ODI century-makers and remains one of India’s most accomplished white-ball batters.
While Rohit now holds the Indian record, the overall record for the oldest player to feature in an ODI remains with Nolan Clarke. The Netherlands batter was 47 years and 257 days old when he played against South Africa in Rawalpindi in 1996.
Rohit also has another milestone within reach. Should he score a century during the Afghanistan series, he would become the oldest Indian batter to register an ODI hundred, surpassing the mark set by Sachin Tendulkar, who was 38 years and 327 days old when he scored his final ODI century against Bangladesh in 2012.
