When the God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar retired on November 16, 2013, not many could fathom the possibility of having another god anytime soon. And very few could predict that someone of similar stature would rise from India yet again. But, Rohit Sharma has become the new god of cricket in no time with his “lazy elegance” and prolific run-scoring ability.
Why is Rohit Sharma the new god of cricket
- Rohit Sharma holds the record of scoring the most runs in an ODI inning. His 264-run knock against Sri Lanka in 2014 had 33 boundaries and 9 sixes. Quite unbelievably, Rohit Sharma also has the fifth and sixth highest ODI inning scores on the list.
- Yet another incredible record that Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma boasts of is having the most number of centuries in a single series. During the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup, Rohit Sharma had incredibly scored five centuries in nine matches, tallying 648 runs. No other batsman has matched the tally of ODI centuries in a single series, let alone the World Cup.
- Rohit Sharma’s knock of 264 against Sri Lanka had 3 boundaries and 9 sixes, resulting in a whopping 186 runs, which is the highest any batsman has tallied through boundaries. Sitting second is New Zealand’s Martin Guptill who has tallied 162 runs in boundaries during his unbeaten 237 against West Indies.
- Rohit Sharma sits at the top of the list of batsmen with the most runs in T20 internationals. Since his T20I debut in 2007, Rohit Sharma has scored 3313 runs in 125 T20Is with four centuries and 26 half-centuries to his name. Names like Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Eoin Morgan and Brendon McCullum are all below him.
Rohit Sharma in International cricket
| Format | Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s |
| Test | 44 | 75 | 3076 | 212 | 46.6 | 8 | 14 |
| ODI | 230 | 223 | 9283 | 264 | 48.6 | 29 | 44 |
| T20I | 125 | 117 | 3313 | 118 | 32.48 | 4 | 26 |
| T20 | 370 | 357 | 9895 | 118 | 31.91 | 6 | 34 |
Team India has produced some of the greatest cricketers in the likes of Kohli, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and more, but Rohit Sharma has carved a place for himself by displaying unparalleled quality and tremendous consistency. His incredible form across all three formats is a testament to the otherworldy batting prowess that he possesses.
Despite making a name for himself in white-ball cricket, Rohit Sharma didn’t need any time to make an impression in Test cricket. While Rohit Sharma is the Indian team’s first-choice opener in Test cricket now, he was equally good in the middle-order when he was asked to come in at number 5. His 280-run partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin is the fourth-highest seventh-wicket partnership.
Rohit Sharma’s record only gets better in the ODI format, where apart from leading the charts of most runs scored in an ODI inning and most number of centuries in an ODI series, he is also the second-highest run-scorer as an ODI captain. It happened during his unbeaten 208 against Sri Lanka in 2017.
Rohit Sharma is only after Sachin Tendulkar in terms of most hundreds scored in a calendar year. While Tendulkar had 9 centuries in 1998, Rohit Sharma sits second with seven centuries in 2019.
Indian team’s white-ball opener is second highest on the list of hitting most sixes (155) and third-highest among the players who have hit the most boundaries (293) in the shortest format of the game.
Quotes on new god of cricket Rohit Sharma
You would be a fool to be tempted to bat like Rohit because he is in a different class. – KL Rahul
Rohit Sharma, according to me, is the best talent India has ever had. – Gautam Gambhir
I haven’t seen a player time the ball better than Rohit Sharma. – Virat Kohli
I just like the way he bats and the effortless nature in which he takes people down. – Jos Butler
He is fantastic. Rohit is poetry in motion because of the kind of bat swing he has. A class apart when it comes to the smooth swing. Rohit’s swing is like a pendulum. – Sachin Tendulkar
Rohit Sharma is the only player capable of scoring 200 in T20s. – Brad Hogg
Rohit Sharma captaincy record
| Format | Matches Played | Matches Won | Win Percentage |
| T20Is | 28 | 24 | 85.71 |
| ODIs | 13 | 11 | 84.61 |
| Test | 1 | 1 | 100 |
| IPL | 153 | 96 | 62.75 |
Rohit Sharma’s exquisite timing of the ball and effortless bat swing has always led to people comparing him with Sachin Tendulkar. But, one aspect of Rohit Sharma’s game has surpassed his idol and that is the art of captaincy. If Rohit Sharma is a great batsman then he is a near-perfect captain.
By the initial stint, it can be assumed that Rohit will be named along with India’s great captains like Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. Rohit Sharma was first handed the captain’s armband in 2017 in a T20I series against Sri Lanka that India had won by 93 runs. Since then, Rohit Sharma has captained India in 28 T20Is, winning 24 of them with a win percentage of 85.71.
Rohit Sharma had made his ODI captaincy debut against Sri Lanka in 2018 and won the series 2-1. He has led India in 13 ODIs so far, winning 11 of them with an 84.61 win percentage.
His Test captaincy debut came only in 2022 when Virat Kohli had abruptly decided to end his stint as Indian team captain. Hence, Rohit has led India only in one Test match so far, maintaining a 100 per cent win record.
While all these are small samples to conclude anything, Rohit Sharma’s best proof as a superior captain in the Indian Premier League. He has 153 IPL matches so far, winning 96 games with a win percentage of 62.75. However, what’s more important is he has won five IPL titles in the process.
