3 milestones that Rohit Sharma can achieve in the ODI series against Australia

Rohit Sharma is undoubtedly one of the greatest limited-overs batsmen of the modern era. The Hitman has pulverised several bowling attacks and is well on his way to etching his name as one of the greatest Indian batsmen of all time. He is the only batsman in the world to have scored three double hundreds in ODI cricket.

And, he is only 32 years of age. With the kind of form and his hunger for runs, he still has a lot of battles to win, a lot of bowling attacks to tame and a lot of milestones to breach.

India will begin their ODI assignment in 2020 with a short three-match series against Australia. And once again, all eyes will be on Rohit as India’s fortunes will depend upon the starts that he gives at the top of the order with the bat.

India’s ODI squad against Australia: Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul,Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wk, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal,Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini,Jasprit Bumrah,Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami.

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 23, 2019

With that being said, let us look at three milestones that Rohit Sharma can achieve in the ODI series against Australia.

#3 Second-fastest Indian batsman to score 9000 ODI runs

Rohit Sharma needs just 56 more runs to enter into the 9000-run club in ODI cricket

Rohit Sharma has played 214 innings for India in ODI cricket, scoring 8944 runs. He needs just another 56 runs to reach the 9000-run mark in ODI cricket. And with the kind of form that Rohit has been in, he could achieve the milestone in the first ODI itself.

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Now, Virat Kohli holds the record for being the fastest to score 9000 ODI runs. The Indian skipper reached the landmark in just 194 innings, a world record. At present, Sourav Ganguly is the second-fastest Indian to the milestone, reaching the landmark in 236 innings. Rohit can go past the legendary left-hander in the ODI series against Australia and become the second-fastest Indian batsman to score 9000 ODI runs, after Kohli.

#2 Second-fastest batsman to score 30 ODI hundreds

Rohit already has 28 hundreds to his name in ODI cricket

There have been just three batsmen who have scored 30 or more hundreds in ODI cricket. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar leads the list with 49 tons, followed by Indian skipper Virat Kohli (43 hundreds), and former Australian batsman Ricky Ponting (30 hundreds).

Rohit presently finds himself in fourth position in the list with 28 ODI tons to his name. While Kohli took just 195 matches to score 30 ODI hundreds, Ponting scored 30 hundreds in 375 matches for Australia; Tendulkar scored his 30th ODI hundred in his 274th ODI match.

If Rohit can score two ODI hundreds against Australia in the upcoming series, he will be the second-fastest batsman ever to score 30 ODI hundreds, behind Kohli. Given his voracious appetite for runs, Rohit can very well score two ODI hundreds in the series against Australia, and go past Ponting and Tendulkar.

#1 First Indian to hit 100 sixes against a single opponent in international cricket

Rohit has hit 93 sixes against Australia in international cricket.

No Indian batsman has hit hundred sixes against a single opposition in international cricket. Rohit has the chance to accomplish this rare feat in the ODI series against Australia. The Hitman has taken a special liking to the Australian bowling attack and has carted their bowlers with disdain. He has so far hit 93 sixes against Australia in international cricket.

In the upcoming three-matche ODI series against Australia, if Rohit can manage to hit seven more sixes a, he will become the first Indian batsman to score 100 sixes against a single opposition in international cricket.

Rohit will also become the second batsman in the world to accomplish this feat. West Indian batsman Chris Gayle holds the record for hitting the most international sixes against a single opponent. The Jamaican has hit a stunning 130 sixes against England in international cricket.