New Delhi:
Rohit Sharma had a record-breaking day in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 clash against Pakistan in Manchester. Rohit and KL Rahul became the first Indian opening duo to stitch a century-opening stand against Pakistan in World Cups. The Mumbai right-hander continued on his great form as he notched up his 24th century, third in World Cups and his second this edition, having smashed 122 in India’s first game against South Africa in Southampton. However, during the course of his knock, Rohit notched up a unique record and he established himself as the ultimate big-hitter not just in world cricket but in Indian cricket.
During his knock of 140, Rohit hit three sixes and in the process, he went past MS Dhoni’s tally of overall sixes in cricket. Before the match, both Rohit and Dhoni were level on 355 sixes but with the addition of those three sixes, Rohit went to 358. However, when it comes to just ODIs, Dhoni still has an edge with 225 sixes while Rohit has 224 sixes even after this knock. The right-hander trumps Dhoni due to his tally of sixes in Twenty20 Internationals.
Rohit blasted his first six by pulling Hasan Ali over deep midwicket while he neared his fifty when he launched Shadab Khan over deep midwicket for his second six. His third six drew comparisons with the six Sachin Tendulkar hit off Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup at Centurion. A short and wide ball from Hasan Ali resulted in Rohit upper-cutting the delivery over the third man for his third six.
Rohit reached his milestone by cutting Shadab to the deep point fence for a single to bring up his century off just 85 balls. Rohit continued to rake in the records as he broke Virat Kohli's mark of the highest individual score in World Cups against Pakistan, which was 107 in the 2015 World Cup in Adelaide.
Pakistan has never won a World Cup contests against India ever since both teams started playing in 1992. In Sydney, India won their first encounter while they knocked Pakistan out in the quarterfinal of the 1996 World Cup. In 1999, they defeated Pakistan in the super six stages while in 2003, they registered a win in the league stages. In 2011, they knocked Pakistan out of the tournament with a win in the semi-final while in 2015, they won by a big margin in Adelaide.
