World Cup 2019 - The Unstoppable Hit-Man: Rohit Sharma’s phenomenal WC campaign

After being dropped out of the 2011 World Cup team, no one thought a certain Hit-Man from Nagpur would become one of the best openers cricket has ever seen. The years following the 2011 World Cup saw Rohit Sharma rise from being just another opener to a record-breaker who almost led India to another World Cup victory this year.

Rohit Sharma had the tournament of his life in England, being at the forefront and helping India finish on top of the table. Unfortunately, New Zealand squashed India’s dreams by knocking the Blues out in the semi-finals to reach their second consecutive final. Nevertheless, Rohit ended up on top of the scorer’s chart, with 648 runs from 9 games. Along the way, he ended up breaking numerous records, cementing his place as one of the best openers of all time.

Rohit Sharma was a treat to watch right from the start of this World Cup. Dominating the bowlers of every opponent India faced, the Hit-Man ended up scoring 5 centuries - the most by any player in an ODI series or a tournament, surpassing Sangakkara’s record of 4 centuries in the 2015 World Cup. This brought his total World Cup centuries tally to 6, a record he now shares with the Master Blaster. Rohit did it better, as he only took 14 innings to achieve this feat compared to Sachin’s 44.

With scores of 102,104 and 103, The Hitman scored three consecutive centuries in the last three group stage matches. The only player to have done this before is Sangakkara in 2015. He also became the second Indian after Kohli to achieve this in any tournament. A truly international player, Rohit’s seven ODI centuries in England is the joint highest by any player outside his home nation. He shares this honour with Sachin Tendulkar (in UAE) and AB de Villiers (in India). He also has the third-highest number of ODI centuries on English soil after Joe Root and Marcus Trescothick. He is just one ton away from surpassing both of them.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul

Rohit Sharma’s excellent display with the bat earned him four Man of the Match awards this World Cup equalling Aravinda de Silva (1996), Lance Klusner (1999) and Yuvraj Singh (2011). Rohit, along with KL Rahul, gave India a great start to most games with a solid opening partnership. Rohit and Rahul’s 189 stand against Sri Lanka is the highest ever opening partnership for India in World Cups. The duo also became the second pair of openers to register hundreds in the same innings of a World Cup game. The other pair was Dilshan and Tharanga who did this twice in 2011. Rohit and Rahul had 4 century-plus stands this World Cup. No one has more number of 100+ opening partnerships in a single edition than the duo.

With a truly record-breaking tournament, Rohit Sharma has once again proven why he is one of the best batsmen in the world right now. Already with more records than fingers can count, the Hit-Man is smashing his way to becoming one of the best openers in the history of the sport.

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