Unstoppable Hitman! Captain Rohit Sharma Scores Blazing Fifty, Reaches T20 WC Milestones

Indian captain Rohit Sharma fired up against the Aussie bowlers during India’s last Super 8 game in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. During that game, Sharma reached some top milestones and broke some memorable records.

Before the game, while India almost secured their place in the semi-finals, it was a must-win match for Australia to stay in strong contention for the semi-finals. Aussie captain Mitchell Marsh chose to field first after winning the toss at Gros Islet.  

Article Contents (Rohit Sharma records):

• First to hit 200 T20I sixes
• First captain to hit 100 T20I sixes
• Fastest fifty by a captain in the T20 World Cup
• Second-highest score by a captain in the T20 World Cup
• Most T20I runs
• Most runs by an Indian captain in a single T20 World Cup tournament
• First Indian captain to win a Player of the Match award in T20 World Cup

Rohit Sharma recorded a 19-ball fifty and scored 92 runs in 41 balls  

Indian captain Rohit Sharma fired up with the bat in the early period of the innings. The right-handed opening batter completed his fifty in just 19 balls and continued his destructive batting before Mitchell Starc bowled him for 92 off 41 balls (seven fours and eight sixes). During the powerplay, Sharma once scored 29 runs in one over of Mitchell Starc.

Suryakumar Yadav (31), Shivam Dube (28), and Hardik Pandya (27) also helped the Indian innings set up a massive first innings total of 205/5.

In reply, Travis Head (76) fought hard along with the skipper Mitchell Marsh (37) and Glenn Maxwell (20), but Australia were restricted to 181/7 (20 overs), as India won by 24 runs. With the victory, India qualified for the semi-finals as the Group 1 champions with six points, and they will face the defending champions England in the second semi-final.

Meanwhile, with that defeat, Australia will now need to look at the result of Afghanistan vs Bangladesh. While an Afghanistan victory can eliminate Australia from the tournament, the Aussies can reach the semi-final only if Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by not a huge margin (for example: winning by less than 62 runs if their first innings score is 160 or else Bangladesh will qualify for the semis). 

Top stats of Rohit Sharma’s destructive batting against Australia in the Super 8 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024  

First to hit 200 T20I sixes  

• Rohit Sharma became the first player to hit 200 T20I sixes. In his T20I career, the right-handed batter has hit 203 sixes. Former New Zealand cricketer Martin Guptill is in the next place with the most T20I sixes, with 173 sixes. No other batter has hit 150 sixes in T20I cricket yet.

First captain to hit 100 T20I sixes  

• Indian captain Rohit Sharma also became the first T20I captain to hit 100 sixes. He has hit 103 T20I sixes as a captain. In the list of most T20I sixes as a captain, former English captain Eoin Morgan is in second place with 86 sixes.

Fastest fifty by a captain in the T20 World Cup  

• With his 19-ball fifty, Sharma set a new record for the fastest fifty by a captain in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup history. He broke the record of former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful’s 20-ball fifty against West Indies in the ICC World T20 2007.

Second-highest score by a captain in the T20 World Cup  

• With his 92 runs off 41 balls, Sharma recorded the second-highest individual score by a captain in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup history. Only the former West Indies captain Chris Gayle scored more than Sharma’s latest innings, 98 against India in the ICC World T20 2010.
• The previous highest individual score by an Indian captain in T20 World Cup history was 57 by Virat Kohli against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

Most T20I runs  

• During the match, Sharma also set a new world record for the most runs in T20I history. By surpassing the previous record holder Pakistan cricketer Babar Azam (4145 runs), Sharma has scored 4165 runs in his T20I career.

Most runs by an Indian captain in a single T20 World Cup tournament  

• Sharma broke the previous Indian captain MS Dhoni’s record (154 runs in 2007) for most runs by an Indian captain in a single edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. In the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, Sharma has scored 191 runs in six innings.