Stats: Rohit Sharma scores his 19th ODI century

It could not have been better a moment for Rohit Sharma who is leading India in the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates in the absence of Virat Kohli. On Sunday, the dashing opener had a double delight as he scored an unbeaten century as India crushed arch-rivals Pakistan by 9 wickets in a Super Four game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. It is India’s heaviest victory over their arch-rivals in terms of wickets.

Pakistan could not capitalise on their opportunity to score a big total and were restricted to 237 for 7 in 50 overs, thanks to some brilliant death-over bowling from India. The Men in Blue then rode on Rohit (111*) and his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan‘s (114) centuries. The only wicket they lost was in the form of Dhawan and it was through a runout.

A day of feats for Rohit Sharma

It was actually a day for a number of feats for Rohit Sharma. Besides leading India to their biggest win over Pakistan in terms of wickets, he also crossed 7,000 runs in the 50-over format and his ton, the 19th in ODIs, was the fourth quickest in terms of innings. South Africa’s Hashim Amla is the quickest to reach the milestone (104 innings) followed by Rohit’s compatriot Virat Kohli (124 innings) and former South African hard-hitting batsman AB de Villiers (171). Rohit took 181 innings to enter the club and he did it in eight innings earlier than West Indian Chris Gayle.

In terms of runs, Rohit is the ninth highest run-getter for India in ODIs and he has played 187 matches till date while all the eight ahead of him have represented India more than 200, 300 and even 400 times in the 50-over variant.

Rohit is also the fourth highest accumulator of centuries in the 50-over format. Only Sachin Tendulkar (49), Kohli (35) and former captain Sourav Ganguly (22) have more three-figure scores than him for India in ODIs. Dhawan, on the other hand, hit his 15th century in the game which took him past Yuvraj Singh and he is now tied with the former opener Virender Sehwag.

Quickest to the 19th century in ODI cricket:

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