India vs West Indies: Rohit Sharma slams 20th ODI century, joins elite list

The opener’s consistency at the top of the order has been one of the main reasons behind India’s dominance in ODI cricket in the recent past.

Rohit Sharma’s career took a decisive turn when MS Dhoni asked him to open the innings back in 2013. After a rather mediocre career in the middle-order, the right-hander has been nothing short of a revelation as an opener.

India's Rohit Sharma raises his bat to celebrate scoring a century during the first one-day international cricket match between India and West Indies in Gauhati, India, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. (AP)

His consistency at the top of the order has been one of the main reasons behind India’s dominance in ODI cricket in the recent past. He has averaged in excess of 50 over the past 2 years and along with Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli have plundered opposition bowling attacks with remarkable ease across all conditions.

In the first ODI against Windies in Guwahati, he notched up his 20th century and is now the fourth Indian on the list of players to have scored the most number of centuries in ODI cricket.

It was a rather sedate start to this innings by Rohit, who was quite content to soak up the initial pressure and then erupted immediately after he notched up his half-century. He took the bowling attack, seam and spin, and tore them apart with ridiculous ease.

This century was his first one against West Indies and 8th on home soil. He posted a stand of 246 runs with Virat Kohli as the Windies attack wilted away.