New Delhi ,JAN 30:
Stand-in-skipper Rohit Sharma stands on the cusp of two milestones when India take on New Zealand in the fourth ODI of the series in Hamilton on Thursday. The visitors have already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series and will look to extend their dominance in the final two ODIs.
In the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli — who has been rested for the rest of the tour — Rohit will look to continue India’s good performance in New Zealand. Apart from team victory, Rohit will also be eying couple of personal milestones in his 200th match in the 50-over format of the game.
So far, Rohit has slammed 215 sixes in ODIs for India and he is tied at the top spot with wicket-keeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Both the batsmen will have the chance to move ahead of the other in the fourth ODI?but one would feel it is Rohit who has the better chance to do so considering he opens the innings for the ‘Men in Blue’.
The second record that Rohit will be eying is that no Indian captain has ever managed to hit a century in New Zealand. Dhoni’s 85* against Zimbabwe at Auckland (2015) remains the highest score by an Indian skipper in the country.
In-form Rohit is more than capable to blowing this stat to smithereens as his average jumps to 102.8 whenever he is captaining the side. In the 8 ODIs in which Rohit has led the team, he has two fifties and two tons including a double hundred.
208* vs SL at Mohali,2017
111* vs PAK at Dubai, 2018
83* vs BDESH at Dubai, 2018
53 vs PAK at Dubai, 2018
Moreover, Rohit has been in good form in the series and he is the second-highest run-getter so far with 160 runs to his name in three outings. With two half-centuries to his name in the last two innings in Mount Maunganui (87 and 62 respectively), one would feel that a three-figure mark is lurking just around the corner for the ‘Hitman’.
