New Delhi, 23 Oct

Star India batter Rohit Sharma surpassed former captain Sourav Ganguly to become India's third-highest run-getter in ODIs.

The veteran batter finally gave fans something to cheer about after a single-digit outing at Perth against Australia in the first ODI. During the second ODI, the 'Hitman' was not his usual explosive self, not going after the bowlers in the power play. Adopting a slower approach, he gradually built his momentum.

The result was a fine knock of 73 runs in 97 balls, with seven fours and two sixes. His strike rate was 75.26. The standout of his knock was undoubtedly two massive pull shots sent sailing into the stands for a six against Mitchell Owen.

Now, in 275 ODIs and 267 innings, Rohit has scored 11,249 runs at an average of 48.69, with 32 centuries and 59 fifties and a best score of 264. He has overtaken Ganguly, who made 11,121 runs in 308 matches at an average of 40.95, with 22 centuries and 71 fifties.

At the top is Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs in 463 matches with 49 centuries), followed by Virat Kohli (14,181 runs in 304 games with 51 centuries).

Since 2022, Rohit has scored 19 fifty-plus scores, and this was only the second one where he achieved the 50-run milestone at a strike rate under 100, with the last one being a 66-ball 50 against England during the ICC Cricket World Cup at home back in 2023.

This year in ODIs, Rohit has scored 383 runs in 10 innings at an average of 38.30, with a century and two fifties, with a best score of 119.

Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first. They areleading 1-0 in the series.

Teams:

Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey(w), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj. (ANI)