India captain Rohit Sharma made history on Thursday, breaking the legendary Yuvraj Singh's record for the most sixes by an Indian in T20 World Cup history. Rohit Sharma went past Yuvraj Singh after he smashed three maximums during his knock of 53 off 39 balls during India's Super 12 match against the Netherlands at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Before the match against the Dutch side, Rohit Sharma was sitting at 31 sixes while Yuvraj Singh's tally read 33. However, Rohit Sharma now has 34 sixes – one more than Yuvraj Singh in the prestigious tournament.
It is pertinent to note that this wasn't the only record, Rohit Sharma created against the Netherlands in Sydney as he also became the joint-most capped player in the T20 World Cup, joining Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan at the top of the list.
The match against the Netherlands was Rohit Sharma's 35th appearance in the prestigious ICC event, putting him on par with Tillakaratne Dilshan regarding matches in the competition.
The Nagpur-born cricketer is the only Indian player who has participated in every edition of the T20 World Cup since the elite event made its debut in South Africa in 2007.
As Rohit Sharma scripted these records against the Netherlands, netizens went into overdrive as they praised the India captain for his brilliant batting show in Australia.
That's why Rohit Sharma is the best player of all time
— ٰ (@mujxxhid) October 27, 2022
— nipun mahajan (@NiPuN_045) October 27, 2022
This Rohit Sharma performance is better than anything I have seen from Kohli
— ganesh🇦🇷 (@breathMesii21) October 27, 2022
The Indian skipper's performance against the Netherlands was even liked by former India spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Harbhajan Singh said that Rohit Sharma's fifty set the tempo of the Indian innings which allowed Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav to play their aggressive brand of cricket in the final 6-7 overs.
“It was a well rounded show from the Indian team and along the expected lines really. Sometimes the smaller teams need to be shown the mirror, how far they are actually from India in term of cricketing level and that's what happened today,” Harbhajan Singh said on Aajtak.
“We have had a complete package today. Suryakumar Yadav scored runs. Rohit Sharma scored runs with the bat and the captaincy was good as well. India bowled well, albeit against a weaker team. India played well and played at their general level and showed how strong teams dominate smaller teams,” Harbhajan Singh added.
“Rohit Sharma spent a lot of overs in the crease today and I believe that he will do better from here on. Rohit Sharma was responsible for India's outstanding cricket today,” Harbhajan Singh explained.
Meanwhile, Rohit dubbed India's win as “clinical” but also revealed that he wasn't too happy with his batting form.
“Lucky for us, we had a few days to get over that special win. As soon as the game got over, we came to Sydney and regrouped. We have to move on now, and the focus was on this game where we wanted to come out and get those two points,” the Mumbai resident said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“I thought it was a clinical win. Looking at the way they have qualified for the Super 12s, credit to them. We, however, always looked to what we can do with ourselves, not bother about the opposition. To be honest, this was a near perfect win. Yes, we played a little slow at the start but that was the conversation between me and Virat, we had to wait to play the big shots,” Rohit Sharma stated.
“Not too happy with my fifty, but what's important is getting runs – it doesn't matter if they are good looking runs or ugly runs. At the end of the day, it is about keeping the confidence up,” the 35-year-old added.
ESPNCricinfo's Sidharth Monga tried to provide answers to why Sharma was perhaps not satisfied with his display with the bat against the Netherlands.
“Rohit Sharma is not happy with his knock. Presumably he means the execution, and not the intent or the result. He scored 53 off 39 balls at a strike-rate of 135.89. In a 73-run partnership off 56 balls with Virat Kohli, Rohit scored 52 off 35,” Sidharth Monga wrote in his column for highly revered cricket website.
“Not counting sweet shots hit straight to a fielder in the ring, Rohit tried to hit seven boundaries in the 16 balls he faced in the powerplay. Yet he managed just 16 runs in that period. That is why he was unhappy. However, thanks to an earlier drop, Rohit stayed long enough for his risks to come off. The next 23 balls brought him 37 runs, including five boundaries and three unsuccessful attempts,” Sidharth Monga added.
“During the course of his innings, Rohit improved his execution, was happy to take the ugly runs, and provided some momentum after a slow start,” he signed off.
Follow Us
Subscribe