Rohit Sharma had a fantastic start to the T20 World Cup. Barring the blow he suffered on his shoulder, which also forced him to retire hurt as a precautionary measure, the Indian captain had a field day against Ireland at the Nassau Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday. Rohit was spot-on in his decision-making right from the onset and then led from the front with a sparkling half-century in the chase to help India get off to a winning start in the T20 World Cup.
Rohit scored 52 off 37 balls - the only man to go past the 50-run mark at the newly built venue - with three sixes before deciding to walk off the field with a sore right shoulder. His innings laid the foundation for India's easy eight-wicket win. If that was not enough, Rohit notched up a few significant milestones with the bat and as the captain.
He became the first cricketer to hit 600 sixes in international cricket. Rohit's six tally currently stands at 600 in just 427 matches. He is followed by Chris Gayle (553 sixes in 483 matches) and Shahid Afridi (476 sixes in 524 matches).
Rohit also crossed the 4000-run mark in T20Is, becoming only the second batter after Virat Kohli to score more than 4000 runs in all three formats of the game. Rohit also notched up 1000 runs at the T20 World Cup, the second Indian after Kohli.
{{/usCountry}}Rohit also crossed the 4000-run mark in T20Is, becoming only the second batter after Virat Kohli to score more than 4000 runs in all three formats of the game. Rohit also notched up 1000 runs at the T20 World Cup, the second Indian after Kohli.
{{/usCountry}}When Rishabh Pant hit the winning six, Rohit also became India's most successful T20I captain. He went past MS Dhoni's win-tally as captain in T20Is. Rohit now has 42 wins as captain in 55 T20Is, going past Dhoni's 41 (Super Over wins not counted) in 73. Rohit's win percentage (77.29) is also significantly higher than Dhoni's (59.28). Kohli has 30 wins as captain in 50 T20Is.
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In the overall list led by Pakistan's Babar Azam with 46 wins in 81 matches, Rohit joined England's Eoin Morgan and Afghanistan's Asghar Afghan (42 wins each). however, remained fourth on the list of captains with the most T20I victories, trailing Pakistan’s Babar Azam (46 wins). USA's Brian Masaba is second on the list with 44 T20I wins.
A complete performance by India
After Rohit's blitz at the top, Rishabh Pant added 36 not out off 26 balls as India reached 97 for 2 in 12.2 overs after routing Ireland for 96.
Allrounder Hardik Pandya took 3-27 for India while Bumrah snared 2-6 in three overs and left-armer Arshdeep Singh returned 2-35, with pace accounting for eight of the 10 Irish wickets.
India next plays fierce cricket rival Pakistan in the marquee match of the league stage on Sunday.
“Early wickets set the tone for us,” Sharma said. “It was good to spend time on this wicket, although it didn’t change too much in the second innings. We will prepare for the Pakistan game as if the conditions will be similar.”