The Ro-Ko fever took over Raipur as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma unleashed big shots in the training session on the eve of the second ODI against South Africa. The fans turned up in large numbers at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium to catch a glimpse of the senior duo and they were not disappointed. High-on-confidence Kohli did not shy away from taking the aerial route and clearing the boundary.
Rohit was on the non-striker’s end when Kohli hit a six over long-on. Rohit felt that the ball was coming towards him as he tried to duck.
In the ODI series opener, Rohit and Kohli shared a 136-run partnership for the second wicket. Rohit was dropped early by Tony de Zorzi and made it count. He hit three sixes and five fours in his 51-ball 57. Kohli went on to score 135 runs from 120 balls. He whacked seven sixes and 11 fours in his 52nd ODI century.
How Ro-Ko performed in previous ODI game in Raipur?
Indian bowlers wrecked New Zealand batting lineup in January 2023. The Kiwi side was bowled out for 109 in 34.3 overs. In the run chase, Rohit scored 51 runs from 50 deliveries, featuring seven fours and a couple of sixes. He was eventually dismissed by Henry Shipley. Kohli started well with two boundaries but got out stumped by Mitchell Santner. He scored 11 runs from nine deliveries.
Kohli, Rohit’s chance to overtake Ponting
Since Kohli is on a six-hitting spree, he can surpass Australian legend Ricky Ponting who has 162 sixes from 375 ODIs. Currently, Kohli has 159 sixes from 306 ODIs.
In the previous game, Rohit surpassed Pakistan's Shahid Afridi to get the record for most sixes in his name. Rohit can surpass Ponting as well on the list of most sixes in ODIs against the Proteas. Rohit has 23 sixes from 27 ODIs against South Africa, one less than Ponting, Kohli and England's Jos Buttler. The top spot belongs to Afridi with 39, followed by India's Sourav Ganguly (31), Australia's David Warner (29), New Zealand's Chris Cairns (27) and Australia's Mitchell Marsh (27).