Stats: Rohit Sharma – The batting beast on Indian soil

Rohit Sharma had a stunning start to his career as an opener in Test cricket extending his success at the same position in white-ball cricket. In his first Test series at the top of the order, Rohit amassed 529 runs at an average of 132.25 with three hundreds in only four innings. He also struck his maiden Test double century in the last game which helped him earn the man of the series award.

Rohit’s exploits have now ensured him the position at least till 2021 as India will play only two overseas Test series in the current World Test Championship cycle. The question of his success away from home will be answered only in February-March next year during their New Zealand tour. However, his run feast on Indian soil should be least surprising despite not used to the opening spot in the red-ball cricket.

Even before getting elevated to opening spot, Rohit Sharma had solid numbers in the longer format at home. His average of 85.44 is close to 60 more than his away Test average. The Test series against South Africa helped the limited-overs vice-captain to raise his home Test average of 99.84 which is the best for any player in a specific country. Earlier this year, Rohit reached 3000 ODI runs at home from only 57 innings; the fewest to 3000 ODI runs in a specific country for any player.

After the latest Test series, Rohit’s first-class average in India spikes up to 71.11 which is the 2nd highest for any player with 5000 and more runs. The 32-year-old has amassed 5760 runs from 94 innings with 22 hundreds and 22 fifties. Vijay Merchant is the only player ahead of Rohit in this list with an average of 76.94. The new Indian opener was 3rd on this list with an average of 67.94 behind Ajay Sharma (68.65).

Rohit Sharma’s success in red-ball cricket is mostly due to his exploits in the Ranji Trophy. Playing for Mumbai, Rohit has struck 14 tons and 15 half-centuries in only 60 innings where he aggregated 3892 runs at an average of 72.07. However, he has not got a chance to boost his record in India’s premier first-class tournament since his Test debut. In the last six seasons, Rohit played a solitary Ranji game back in 2015 where he scored a century.

(Stats as on October 28, 2019)