Indian skipper Rohit Sharma became the leading six-hitter in the history of the ODI Asia Cup with a couple of sixes against Sri Lanka in the Super Fours game. Rohit broke former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi’s record which stood for nine years.
Rohit now has 28 sixes from 25 innings. Afridi had hit 26 sixes from 21 innings in the Asia Cup from 1997 to 2014.
Rohit got the record in his name with a six in the seventh over of the innings bowled by Kasun Rajitha. With that six, he also completed 10,000 ODI runs. He became the second-fastest batter to achieve the feat from 241 innings.
The second six Rohit hit in his innings was against Matheesha Pathirana in the 11th over. He also completed 50 sixes in ODIs against Sri Lanka, the second batter to do that after Afridi. He reached his half-century in the 13th over with a boundary. This was his 10th fifty-plus score in the ODI Asia Cup, the most by any batter in the tournament’s history.
During the innings, Rohit also got another record to his name alongside Virat Kohli. Rohit and Kohli became the fastest pair to reach 5,000 ODI runs breaking the record held by West Indies duo Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge for more than three decades. They reached the feat from the 85th innings in ODIs together.
The 36-year-old could not go on to score his first century of Asia Cup 2023. He lost his wicket to left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage. The 20-year-old bowled an arm ball from around the stumps which did not get enough bounce and crashed into the leg stump. He scored 53 runs from 48 balls including seven fours and two sixes.
Rohit is currently the leading run-scorer of Asia Cup 2023 with 194 runs from four innings at an average of 64.67 including three half-centuries. He has hit 21 sixes in the tournament already.
Despite Rohit’s half-century, Wellalage’s fifer and part-time spinner Charith Asalanka’s four-fer helped Sri Lanka bowl out India for 213 with five balls left in the innings.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Rohit Sharma becomes first Indian batter with 5,000 partnership runs with two batters in ODIs
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