It is a big surprise that we have not yet done a Best Performances article on one of the 2 best ODI batters in the world and now finally it is time we acknowledge the Hitman. He is the only man in ODIs history to hit 3 Double Hundreds in ODI cricket which is mind boggling. No other batter has just 2 and only a handful of batters have hit 1 and we could count them in 2 hands. Rohit Sharma is my favorite player in world cricket because he makes batting look so easy and without much effort he hits the most glorious shots.
Rohit Sharma has played 233 ODIs for India till now and he has batted in 226 Innings and has scored 9378 runs till now at a very good average of 48.58 with 29 ODI hundreds and a record 3 double Hundreds in ODIs. He has also hit 250 Sixes in ODI cricket which is incredible. So, let’s look at the Top 5 Best Performances of this great in ODI cricket.
209 vs Australia (2013)
This was the first year of Rohit Sharma opening the batting for India and this match was the decider In the 7 match ODI series vs Australia and Rohit Sharma stepped up for India and scored a remarkable double hundred which is still talked about to this day. While batting first Rohit Sharma took 158 balls and he smashed 12 fours and 16 sixes meaning a total of 144 runs in boundaries. He has a strike rate of 132.28 and due to his innings India won the match by 57 runs and Rohit Sharma had arrived.
Must Read | List of all 200s in ODI history
264 vs Sri Lanka (2014)
This is the highest score by any batter in 50 over cricket and I think the only batter who can break this record is Rohit Sharma himself. It happened at Eden Gardens in 2014 and Rohit Sharma was returning from injury and he absolutely destroyed the Sri Lankan bowling attack. He faced 173 balls and he hit a record 33 fours and 9 sixes meaning a total of 186 runs in boundaries which is more than the highest scores of the majority of batters. His strike rate was 150 plus. This was a once in a lifetime Innings and is still remembered. India won this match by 153 runs and Rohit Sharma won this match by 13 Runs.
208* vs Sri Lanka (2017)
The third double hundred in his ODI career came in 2017 and the opponents were Sri Lanka again and Rohit Sharma was once again in a mood to hit every bowler out of the ground. In this innings he faced 153 balls and he hit 13 fours and 12 sixes meaning a total of 124 runs in boundaries. His strike rate was 135.95 and India won this match by 141 runs. Rohit Sharma had become the best opening batter in ODI cricket and this third double hundred made sure that he was in a league of his own and we are all waiting for his 4th.
Also Read | Best Innings of Rohit Sharma
137* vs England (2018)
This was a chasing Masterclass in a difficult batting pitch where the other batters were finding it difficult to score runs. England had made a decent score of 268 in the first innings and it was a fighting total buf Rohit Sharma with all his class made sure that England were never in the match. He only took 114 balls to make 137* and in this innings he hit 15 Fours and 4 sixes meaning a total of 84 runs in boundaries and his strike rate was 120.18. India won that match by a whopping 8 wickets in the end.
Also Read | Rohit Sharma Net worth
140 vs Pakistan (2019)
He made 5 hundreds in the 2019 Cricket World Cup but for me this is the best one as it came in the biggest match and the pressure was immense. Rohit Sharma had already hit a brilliant century against South Africa and In this match he took Pakistan to the cleaners as he took 113 balls to make a brilliant 140 runs . He smashed the Pakistan bowling with 14 fours and 3 sixes which means a total of 72 runs in boundaries and he has a strike rate of 123.89 and his knock ensured that India won the match by 89 runs. He has a few years left in him and hope to see more such incredible innings from him till the 2023 World Cup in India.
