New Delhi:
Rohit Sharma entered an elite list of players as he equaled a record set by Sourav Ganguly in the deciding match between India and Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Wednesday. Chasing 273, India lost Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli but Rohit, along with Rishabh Pant held firm and kept India in the hunt to clinch the series against Australia. On 46, Rohit became the latest entrant into the 8000-run club when he tapped Nathan Lyon to backward point in the 22nd over for a single. The Mumbai right-hander achieved it in his 200th innings, same as Ganguly but the Bengal left-hander played 208 games as compared to Rohit’s 205. Ganguly achieved the landmark in the ODI against West Indies in Nagpur in 2002. Rohit is now the joint third-quickest to the landmark, behind Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Rohit also went past his 41st fifty by tapping Glenn Maxwell's flatter delivery outside off to the point region for a quick single and he is on the cusp of achieving yet another individual record. The right-hander is on the verge of becoming only the fourth player in history to score 2000 ODI runs against Australia. Rohit has hit 69 sixes against them, which is the most any player has ever hit against Australia in ODIs. He also has seven hundreds, which is the third-most by a player in ODIs against the five-time World Champions, behind Sachin Tendulkar's tally of nine tons and Virat Kohli's eight centuries.
Sachin Tendulkar once again stands on top with 3077 runs in 71 ODIs against Australia at an average of 44.59. Desmond Haynes and Sir Vivian Richards of the West Indies are second and third respectively with 2262 and 2187 runs respectively.
Australia managed to post 272/9 after opting to bat in the decider at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Usman Khawaja notched up his second ton and he fell just three runs short of breaking the world record set by David Warner for most runs in a five-match bilateral ODI series, which is 386 against South Africa in 2016. However, India staged a great comeback and chipped in with regular wickets towards the middle overs.
Peter Handscomb hit his fourth fifty but Australia managed just 70 runs in the last 10 overs to finish with a total that should pose some problems for India on a wicket that is becoming slow and low as the game progresses.
