World Cup 2023: Rollicking Rohit Erases Records

IMAGE: Rohit Sharma batted with aplomb to topple records in the World Cup 2023 match against Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

Rohit Sharma went on a rampage against Afghanistan as he tore into their bowling and toppled a slew of records during the World Cup 2023 match at the Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Rohit surpassed Sachin Tendulkar for most centuries in the ODI World Cup, scoring his 7th century in the tournament (131 off 84 balls), to help India register a convincing 8-wicket win.

While Tendulkar recorded six centuries in as many editions of World Cups that he played -- 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 -- Rohit achieved the feat in only three: 2015, 2019 and 2023.

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En route his scintillating century, Rohit completed 1,000 runs in World Cup history. He is tied with Australian Opener David Warner as the joint-fastest 1,000-run scorer in the World Cup, achieving the feat in just 19 innings.

While chasing 273 for victory against the Afghans, Rohit went into overdrive from the get go to score the fastest ODI century by an Indian in World Cup history -- his ton coming off just 63 balls, break a 40-year old record previously held by 1983 World Cup-winning Captain Kapil Dev, who scored a 100 off just 72 balls in the match against Zimbabwe,

Rohit's century on Wednesday is among the most hundreds (3) in successful World Cup chases. His 131 was the highest score by an Indian during a World Cup chase.

IMAGE: Rohit Sharma smashed 6 sixes in the match to go past Chris Gayle. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

Rohit, who hammered 6 maximums in his aggressive innings, also went past West Indies' Chris Gayle (553 sixes across formats) to record most sixes hit in international cricket across formats.

Rohit played a signature pull shot to hit Afghanistan bowler Naveen-Ul-Haq on the penultimate ball of the eighth over to overtake Gayle. Pakistan's Shahid Afridi is third in the list with 476 sixes.

Rohit completed his half-century off just 30 balls -- the second fastest in the World Cup 2023 so far -- while hitting three sixes and seven fours to score 60 off 32 balls at the end of the eighth over.

Rohit's ton against Afghanistan was his 31st overall, taking him past Australian legend Ricky Ponting. He is now behind India's Virat Kohli (47) and Tendulkar (49) in the history of ODI cricket.