With his half-century against the West Indies on Friday, India captain Rohit Sharma went past Virat Kohli to become the first man to reach 31 50-plus scores in T20Is. While talismanic batter Virat Kohli has 30 fifties to his name in the shortest version of the sport, Rohit Sharma has scored 27 fifties and 4 hundreds in T20Is to take the first spot in the list of players who have the most 50-plus scores in 20-over a side version of cricket.
Most fifty-plus scores in T20Is:
31 – Rohit Sharma*
30 – Virat Kohli
27 – Babar Azam
23 – David Warner
22 – Martin Guptill
En route to his match-defining 64 off 44 deliveries in the first T20I against the West Indies in Trinidad, Rohit Sharma also toppled New Zealand's Martin Guptill from the first place to become the highest run-getter in T20Is.
Before the start of the contest against the Caribbean side, Martin Guptill led Rohit Sharma by 20 runs, but the India captain is now 44 runs clear of the Kiwi opening batter.
With Rohit Sharma firing on all cylinders, India went on to post a healthy 190/6 in their 20 overs.
If Rohit Sharma carried the Indian innings from the start to the 15th over, Dinesh Karthik came to the party in the final five overs.
Dinesh Karthik took the West Indies bowlers to the cleaners during his knock of 41 which came off only 19 balls. The seasoned Tamil Nadu batter smacked two sixes and four boundaries.
Chasing a target of 191, the West Indians were never in the hunt as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Arshdeep Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin being the pick of the bowlers, having taken two wickets each.
In the end, India went on to seal a comfortable 68-run victory to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Coming back to Rohit Sharma's knock, the Nagpur-born superstar was back to his best as he smacked seven boundaries and two sixes in his innings of 64.
With Rohit Sharma playing the innings he did, Twitterati was impressed with his efforts at the Brian Lara Stadium and hailed him for his match-winning knock.
https://twitter.com/EtherealRohit/status/1553043070891204609
https://twitter.com/EinsteinGupta/status/1553053041657466880
https://twitter.com/ImKk__45/status/1553049682280009728
Rohit Sharma was delighted with Team India's display at the Brian Lara Stadium.
“We knew it's going to be slightly tough, the shot making wasn't easy at the start. The guys who are set need to carry on for longer and the way we finished off the first innings was a great effort,” Rohit Sharma said after India's triumph in Trinidad.
“When we finished the first 10 overs, we didn't think we could get to 190. It was a great effort from the boys and great finish. There are three facets of the game which we are trying to improve. We have got to try and back the ideas about executing it with the bat. We want to try certain things and all in all I thought it was a great effort,” Rohit Sharma added.
“We have given a specific role for the specific players to come and do the job for the team. Today we did it. There is no guarantee that it can happen every game but we have got to try and back those ideas of trying to go out there and trying to execute certain skills with the bat. And, while doing that, you will have some odd failures, but we are okay with that,” Rohit Sharma elaborated.
“We want to do certain things when things, and I think we are able to achieve certain things. All in all, it was a great effort. We want to continue doing that. But again we need to understand what sort of pitch we play on. Certain pitches will not allow you to do that. So. you will have to take a backward step and see how you can play in those over,” Rohit Sharma pointed out.
“I love playing here in West Indies. Indian team always receives great support from the Indian crowd coming in from the USA and also the local crowd here, quite superb to get such support,” Rohit Sharma noted.
Dinesh Karthik too was impressed with India's performance in the match.
“Turning on the heat. Good to start off the series with a win!” Karthik, the Man of the Match, said on Twitter.
Turning on the heat 💥
Good to start off the series with a win!#WIvIND pic.twitter.com/J164FbRSQs— DK (@DineshKarthik) July 29, 2022
“It was sticky, not an easy wicket to bat on. It's a very interesting role, you need the backing from the coach and the captain and that really helped. Important to assess the wicket and what kind of shots you need to play, and that comes with practice,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.
The second T20I between India and West Indies will be played on Monday in Basseterre, the capital city of St Kitts.
It will be the first T20I match at Warner Park after more than two years, having last hosted a game in January 2020.
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