India captain Rohit Sharma became the third Indian batter to reach 15,000 runs in international cricket as an opener. This milestone was achieved during the opening ODI against Sri Lanka at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday, August 2.
With this remarkable achievement, Rohit joins legendary Sachin Tendulkar (15,335) and Virender Sehwag (16,119) for the most runs as an opening batter in the 50-over format. Overall, he became the 10th opener in international cricket history to reach 15,000 runs.
For those unaware, former Sri Lanka opener Sanath Jayasuriya holds the record for the most runs as an opener in international cricket with 19,298 runs. The top five list also includes West Indies legend Chris Gayle (18,867), Australia’s David Warner (18,744), erstwhile South Africa captain Graeme Smith (16,950), and another WI batter Desmond Haynes (16,120). Sehwag and Tendulkar are sixth and seventh on the list.
“One of the Greatest All-Time One-Day Openers” – Kris Srikkanth on Rohit Sharma
Former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth lauded Rohit Sharma, praising his ability to convert starts into big scores. He rated Rohit as one of the greatest openers of all time. Speaking to Star Sports in 2022 (via The Times of India), Srikkanth said:
“I would rate him as one of the greatest all-time one-day openers in world cricket. What’s the greatest quality in Rohit Sharma is that he goes for these big hundreds and double hundreds, that is something amazing.”
“In a one-day match, you will go 150, 180, 200, just imagine where you are going to take the team to, that’s the greatness about Rohit,” he added.
Rohit Sharma holds the unique record of three double centuries as an opener in ODIs. The Mumbai batter initially played as a finisher before transitioning to the opener role in January 2013, six years after his international debut for Team India in 2007.
As for the match, India was at 77-1 after 13 overs while chasing 231, with Rohit unbeaten on 56 at the time of writing.