12 November,2023 04:14 PM IST | Bengaluru | mid-day online correspondent
Rohit Sharma (Pic: AFP)
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday surpassed South African legend AB De Villiers to register most sixes in ODIs in a calendar year during India's final ICC World Cup 2023 league stage against the Netherlands.
The skipper was at his best, scoring 61 in 54 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of over 112. While de Villiers had hit 58 ODI sixes in 2015, Rohit has smashed 59 ODI sixes this year.
With 24 sixes, Rohit has also overtaken England's World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan (22 sixes in 2019) to register the most sixes by a captain in a single World Cup edition.
He also became the first player to register 500-plus runs in two successive World Cups. After registering 648 runs in nine matches with five centuries and a fifty in the 2019 WC, the 36-year-old now has 503 runs in nine matches at an average of 55.88 and a strike rate of 121.
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In the process, he also overtook Saurav Ganguly's tally of 465 runs in the 2003 World Cup to become the Indian captain with the most runs in a single edition of the Cricket World Cup. Besides Sachin Tendulkar (523 runs in the 1996 WC and 673 runs in the 2003 WC), Rohit is the only player to have 500 runs twice in a single World Cup edition.
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Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat first. The 'Men in Blue' will be eyeing to maintain their unbeaten streak in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 and will aim to win the prestigious tournament.
Hosts India have displayed a quality performance at the ongoing extravagant tournament and maintained their eight-game winning streak. India stands at the top of the ODI World Cup 2023 standings with 16 points. They have a net run rate of +2.456.
The excellent Netherlands team demonstrated their class earlier in the tournament when they shocked South Africa, and their triumph over Bangladesh was equally stunning. But they have lost their remaining matches and sit at the bottom.
(With inputs from agencies)
