X, formerly Twitter, was flooded with memes after India captain Rohit Sharma scripted history against Australia in the third ODI in Rajkot on Wednesday.

Rohit Sharma began India's run chase explosively, smashing a quickfire of 81 off 57 balls after Australia won the toss and posted a huge total of 352/7 on the board.

Rohit Sharma's splendid innings included five boundaries and six sixes.

As the Nagpur-born cricketer's knock featured six maximums, Rohit Sharma shattered the record for most sixes in a single nation. Currently, he has 257 sixes to his name in India.

Previously, this record was with New Zealand opener Martin Guptill, who struck 256 sixes in his home country.

 

The other men who have smashed more than 200 sixes in a single country are Martin Guptill's New Zealand colleague Brendon McCullum (230) and Chris Gayle (228).

Most international sixes in a country
257 – Rohit Sharma in IND*
256 – Martin Guptill in NZ
230 – Brendon McCullum in NZ
228 – Chris Gayle in WI
186 – MS Dhoni in IND

During the course of his knock, Rohit Sharma also became the quickest to reach the landmark of 550 sixes across formats in international cricket.

While West Indies great Chris Gayle required 548 essays to accomplish the milestone, Rohit Sharma took only 471 innings to get there.

However, Chris Gayle still holds the record for hitting the maximum sixes in international cricket, having smoked 553 during his illustrious career. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma follows him close behind with 551 sixes.

Most sixes across formats in international cricket
Chris Gayle (West Indies) – 553 sixes
Rohit Sharma (India) – 551 sixes*
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) – 476 sixes
Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) – 398 sixes
Martin Guptill (New Zealand) – 383 sixes
MS Dhoni (India) – 359 sixes
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) – 352 sixes
Eoin Morgan (England) – 346 sixes
AB de Villiers (South Africa) – 328 sixes
Jos Buttler – 312 sixes*

Among other milestones Rohit Sharma achieved in Rajkot was becoming the fifth Indian batter to score a half-century in the initial ten overs of a 50-over contest.

Before Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, and Robin Uthappa had attained the feat in One-Day Internationals.

Also, Rohit Sharma is the first batter to smash five sixes against the Australian's frontline bowling line-up featuring Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood.

Rohit Sharma's brilliant batting display couldn't save India from losing the match in Gujarat as the hosts were bowled out for 286 in 49.4 overs, handing the Australians a comfortable 66-run victory.

India's defeat did not make any difference to the series' outcome as the Men in Blue had already won it after beating the Kangaroos in the first two games in Indore and Mohali.

India's loss in the final ODI against Australia did not deter Rohit Sharma from praising his team's performance in the last four weeks.

During this period, India won the Asia Cup after registering comprehensive victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Colombo.

India's Asia Cup triumph was followed by a convincing ODI series win over Australia.

“I'm pretty happy [with my own form]. Of course I'd like to go all the way along but as long as I'm hitting like that I'm happy,” Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“The last 7-8 ODIs we've played really well in different conditions. We were challenged at different times and we took that challenge really well. Unfortunately not the result we wanted today but I'm not going to look too much into this game. We've been playing really well,” the India skipper added.

Rohit Sharma asserted that specific roles have been assigned to individuals in the team when asked about India's squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup at home.

“When we talk about the 15, we are very clear what we want and who are the guys who are gonna do the job for us. Pretty clear in our mind, not confused. We know where we are headed as a team. It's a team sport at the end of the day and you need everyone to come and play their part. That's how you win championships. Focus on the next one and a half months will be on that. How we are going to manage ourselves on the field, looking after our body and making sure that we stay fresh for each game that is in front of us,” Rohit Sharma concluded.

India last won the ICC ODI World Cup in 2011 under the leadership of the legendary MS Dhoni. The Men in Blue lost in the semifinalists in the subsequent editions, with hosts Australia trumping them in 2015 and Kane Williamson's boys getting the better of the Virat Kohli-led side in 2019.

India open their campaign in the 2023 World Cup against Australia in Chennai on October 8.