Key Points
- The Indian former captain will play his 500th international match in the 1st ODI against Australia.
- Rohit needs 10 more runs to become the first Indian to score 1,000 ODI runs in Australia.
- Another century would mark his 50th international ton and ninth against Australia.
- Virat Kohli is just 54 runs away from surpassing Kumar Sangakkara to become the second-highest run-scorer in ODI history, behind Sachin Tendulkar.
- He also needs 67 more runs to overtake Tendulkar and become the highest run-getter in white-ball cricket (ODIs + T20Is).
ISLAMABAD: After a long wait of 224 days, Rohit Sharma returns to the Indian line-up, possibly for the last time in ODIs, with history firmly within his grasp. When India face Australia in the opening ODI at Perth on Sunday, all eyes will be on Rohit, who stands just eight sixes short of surpassing Shahid Afridi to become the highest six-hitter in ODI cricket history.
The Indian former skipper has smashed 344 sixes in 265 innings, second only to Afridi’s 351 sixes in 369 innings. With three matches lined up in Australia, Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney, the stage is perfectly set for Rohit to overtake the former Pakistani star and write his name atop one of the most explosive records in the game.
Rohit’s connection with Australia is deep-rooted. Since his first tour in 2008, he has played 19 ODIs on Australian soil, scoring 990 runs at an impressive average of 58.23, including four centuries. Just 10 more runs in this series will make him the first Indian, and only the fifth player overall, to score 1,000 ODI runs against Australia in Australia.
This series also carries emotional weight. It marks Rohit’s 500th international appearance (in all three formats), making him the 11th cricketer in history to reach the milestone on Sunday. With 49 ODI centuries already to his name, another hundred would make him only the ninth player ever to score 50 centuries across formats, and the third Indian after Tendulkar and Kohli.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli stands on the verge of rewriting another chapter in cricket history as he prepares to take the field against Australia. With 14,181 ODI runs at an average of 57.88 and a record 51 centuries, Kohli is now just 54 runs short of surpassing Kumar Sangakkara to become the second-highest run-scorer in ODI history, behind only Sachin Tendulkar’s towering 18,426 runs. His consistency and longevity continue to define the modern era of batting dominance.
Beyond ODIs, Kohli is also closing in on another milestone in white-ball cricket. He needs just 67 more runs to overtake Tendulkar’s 18,436 and become the highest run-getter in white-ball formats combined (ODIs and T20Is). As he returns to international action after 224 days, the series against Australia could witness Kohli cementing his place among cricket’s all-time greats with yet another record to his name.
