India national cricket team’s superstar opener Rohit Sharma has created history with his presence in the first match of the ODI series against Australia national cricket team on Sunday, October 19.
Shubman Gill-led India and Mitchell Marsh-led Australia are currently facing each other in the first ODI of the three-match series at the iconic Perth Stadium.
Rohit Sharma completed 500 international matches
Shubman Gill lost his first toss as India captain and was invited to bat first in the match. This was the 16th consecutive toss loss by India in ODIs, their last win being against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Rohit Sharma was named in India’s playing XI along with the returning Virat Kohli, and with this appearance, the legendary opening batsman completed 500 international matches in cricket for India.
India is the powerhouse of world cricket, or as Ravi Shastri says, the “Big Daddy of world cricket”, and has produced many great legends of the game over the years.
However, very few of them have had a career long enough to have played in 500 international matches. The first person to achieve this feat was the God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar and he finished his career with 664 international matches.
The next three players to reach this great feat were Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, and now Rohit Sharma has become the fifth Indian to play 500 matches for India in international cricket.
Highest attendance for India in international matches:
664 Sachin Tendulkar
551 Virat Kohli*
535 ms dhoni
504 Rahul Dravid
500 Rohit Sharma*
Rohit Sharma flopped on his return to cricket!
There were a lot of expectations from Rohit as he was returning to cricket after a long time. Furthermore, when he was stripped of the captaincy, many expected him to respond to the selectors by scoring big runs with the bat.
Rohit worked hard in the nets before going to Australia and he also worked hard in the gym to lose some weight. After landing in Perth, he initially looked tired during the net session, but soon recovered.
However, all his hard work went in vain as he scored just 8 runs off 14 balls in the first ODI against the Australian team. He fell to Josh Hazlewood on the fourth ball of the fourth over as he bowled the ball to second slip.
He has worked hard in the last six months to lose 10 kg – Praveen Amre.
Speaking ahead of the start of the India vs Australia series, former India coach Praveen Amre revealed that Rohit Sharma has lost 10 kg and urged the Indian team management not to force him into retirement.
“He is the most senior player in this team, and I think he should play like that. The team management should also give him space to grow, give him time now and just enjoy his batting. I think the more he enjoys his batting, the more he can become a match-winner. Also, he will not have the burden of captaincy, so we want match-winner Rohit now. I think he is still capable of that,” Amre told RevSportz.
Amre said, “I was there when he was training at BKC. When I saw him, I told him that a fit body will have a fit mind, because he has worked really hard in the last six months to lose 10 kg.”
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