Rohit Sharma’s Top 5 Innings in One-Day Internationals

Rohit Sharma

One word which is synonymous with Rohit Sharma is Talent. With no doubt in mind, Rohit Sharma is one of the greatest limited over’s batsmen in the current era.

A talented batsman with the gift of timing, watching Rohit Sharma bat is a treat to every cricket lover’s eyes. The only batsman to have three triple centuries to his name in one-day cricket, Rohit Sharma’s fate has already been sealed in history books.

While he is among the most important batsmen in the current Indian line up, Rohit struggled a lot during the initial years of his career. However, the move to send him to open the batting proved to be the most defining one and today, Rohit’s journey has become one of the compelling stories of Indian cricket:

In this article, we look at Rohit Sharma’s top 5 innings of his limited over’s career:

1. 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014

rohit 264 against sri lanka

One of the best ODI innings of all-time, Mumbai batsman’s 264 run knock against Sri Lanka has to be at the top in the list of Rohit Sharma’s top five innings in one-day cricket.

The right-handed batsman wreaked havoc in Kolkata against Sri Lanka as he notched the highest individual score in one-day internationals. He notched 264 runs in just 173 deliveries, an inning which was laced with 33 fours and nine sixes.

He helped India reach a mammoth 404 run total in 50 overs. Sri Lanka, in reply, folded for just 251 as India won that game by 153 runs.

2. 122 against South Africa in 2019 World Cup

rohit 122 against South Africa

Amongst the top 5 ODI innings by Rohit Sharma, his match-winning knock against South Africa in 2019 World Cup should be at the second spot, if not the first. India were playing their first game in the World Cup and all they needed was a win to start with.

Riding on Yuzvendra Chahal’s exceptional spell of 10 overs, the Men in Blue had restricted South Africa to 227 in the first innings.

The batting wasn’t quite impressive though, as wickets kept tumbling in regular intervals while in pursuit of the chase. Rohit Sharma, however, stuck at one end and made sure he drives India home in the end. He played a magical 122 run knock off 144 deliveries, including 13 fours and 2 sixes.

Virat Kohli even rated that innings as his best of his international career.

3. 209 against Australia in 2013

rohit 209 against Australia in 2013

A master of double hundreds, Rohit Sharma’s hunger for scoring big knocks skyrocketed after sealing a permanent place in the eleven, courtesy Dhoni’s decision to send him up the order.

The Mumbai batsman’s love for playing against Australia isn’t a hidden fact and the knock of 209 in 2013 is a testimony to that.

Batting first, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a blistering start as both combined to stitch together a 112-run partnership for the opening wicket. While Shikhar Dhawan went back after making 60, Rohit carried on and kept playing till the last over of the innings. He scored 209 runs off 158 deliveries. He smacked 12 fours and 16 sixes during the course of his innings.

Hitting a double hundred and that too against a world-beater side like Australia, 209 run-knock has to be amongst Rohit Sharma’s top 5 innings in one-day cricket.

4. 141 not out against Australia in 2013

rohit 141 not out against Australia in 2013

The 2013 ODI series against Australia was nothing but a run-fest. Every match would be a high scoring one and the second ODI too was no different. Batting first, Australia had put on a massive 359-run total, giving India a target of 360 to chase.

While not many were betting in favour of India, the top three Indian batsmen in Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made a mockery of the chase.
Rohit Sharma, in that game, played an unbeaten 141 run knock off just 123 deliveries and helped India chase down the total in just 43.3 overs. Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 100 off 52 balls, while Dhawan scored 95 off 68 balls.

The Mumbai Batsman’s knock sits fourth in the list of Rohit Sharma’s top 5 innings in one-day internationals.

5. 147 against New Zealand in 2016

rohit 147 against New Zealand in 2016

The series was level 1-1 and India was to face off New Zealand in the final game. Rohit Sharma, once again, stepped up to the occasion as he struck 147 runs off 138 deliveries, to help India set up a total of 331 runs in the first innings. The match proved out to be a tight one, however, India emerged victorious in the end, winning the game by 6 runs.

Rohit Sharma’s 147-run knock is our 5 best amongst his best ODI knocks in one-day cricket.