List of records Rohit Sharma created with his twin tons in the Vizag Test against South Africa

Rohit Sharma had a fairytale start while opening the innings in Test cricket as he struck back to back tons in his debut Test as an opener. Rohit made his mark in the very first innings scoring 176 from only 244 deliveries. The 33-year-old has often struggled in the longer format against South Africa having scored only 149 runs in the previous 12 innings.

He followed up his big knock with 149-ball 127 in the 2nd innings on a tricky day 4 track to help India declare in the final session. Overall, Rohit aggregated 303 runs from 393 balls in the Vizag Test by hitting 33 fours and 13 maximums. His both knocks came to an end via stumping in the bowling of Keshav Maharaj.

All the stats and records that Rohit created during this maiden Test match as an opener:

1 – Rohit Sharma became the first player to score twin centuries in his maiden Test as an opener. His 303 runs are also the most in first Test match as an opener by any player. He thus surpassed Tillakaratne Dilshan’s tally of 215 runs during the 2009 Galle Test against New Zealand. Rohit’s 1st innings score of 176 is the 4th highest by any player in maiden innings as a Test opener.

2 – Rohit is only the 2nd Indian to score twin centuries in a Test match as an opener. Sunil Gavaskar had three such instances between 1971 and 1978. Overall, he is the 6th player to achieve this feat and the first since Ajinkya Rahane in the 2015 Delhi Test also against South Africa.

7 – The 33-year-old became the first player with seven consecutive fifty-plus scores on Indian soil in Test cricket. Everton Weekes (1948/49), Rahul Dravid (1997/98) and Andy Flower (1999-2000) had six consecutive scores over 50 runs in this format.

13 – The 13 sixes Rohit hit in this match are the most by any player in a Test match surpassing Wasim Akram’s 12 maximums during the 1996 Sheikhupura Test against Zimbabwe. Rohit hit six sixes in the first innings and seven in the second essay which makes him the first player with 6+ sixes in both innings of a Test.

Rohit also became the 1st Indian with 10+ sixes in a Test while his seven sixes in the 2nd innings are the joint 2nd most by an Indian in a Test inning. He already holds the record for the most number of sixes in an ODI and T20I by an Indian having hit 16 and 10 sixes respectively. Rohit thus became the first player to hit 10+ sixes in a match in all three international formats.

14 – Rohit struck a hat-trick of sixes during the 2nd innings in the bowling of Dane Piedt. He thus became the 14th player and only the 4th Indian to hit consecutive sixes of three consecutive deliveries. He is also the only player among those 14 to do it while opening the innings.

The last of the previous 13 with a hat-trick of sixes in Tests was Hardik Pandya during his debut Test series against Sri Lanka in 2017. Kapil Dev (4 in a row) and MS Dhoni are the other Indians to hit three or more consecutive sixes in Test cricket.

97.45 – Rohit Sharma’s batting average in Test cricket on Indian soil; the 3rd best average for any player in a country having scored at least 1000 runs. Sir Donald Bradman averages 102.84 and 98.22 in England and Australia respectively in Test cricket. Rohit now has scored 1072 runs across 16 Test innings in India with five centuries and five fifties.

303 – Runs Rohit aggregated in this Test match; the 8th Indian to score 300+ runs in a Test match. Virender Sehwag is the only Indian with two instances of 300+ runs in a Test as he scored two triple hundreds. His 319 against South Africa in the 2008 Chennai Test was the last instance of an Indian opener amassing 300+ runs in a Test series until Rohit in the ongoing Vizag Test.

1956 – Rohit Sharma became only the 3rd opening batsman in Test history to be stumped twice in a match and the first in the last 63 years. New Zealand’s Bert Sutcliffe was the last opener to be dismissed stumped twice in a Test which was during the 1956 Christchurch Test against West Indies. England’s Tom Hayward was the first opener to be dismissed stumped twice in a Test which happen during the 1907 Leeds Test also against South Africa.

As many as 22 players including Rohit were dismissed stumped twice in a Test at any position but Rohit is the first Indian to be part of this rare list. The interesting fact is that Rohit was never dismissed stumped in his 87-match first-class career prior to this match.