India’s new limited-overs captain, Rohit Sharma, and former skipper Virat Kohli will join hands to take on the West Indies in a 3-match ODI series, starting Sunday. All three matches of the ODI series will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli together have an opportunity to join an elite list that is led by legendary Indian batters Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli need 94 more runs to become only the third Indian pair – and eighth overall – to score 5000 partnership runs in ODIs. Currently, Sharma and Kohli together have registered 4906 runs in just 81 innings at an average of 64, in which there are 18 century stands.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly lead this list with the most partnership ODI runs, having amassed 8227 runs in 176 innings at an average of 47.55.
Rohit Sharma and his opening partner in ODIs for 9 years, Shikhar Dhawan, is the second Indian pair to have crossed 5000 partnership ODI runs with 5023 runs together in 112 innings at an average of 45.25. They have put on 17 ODI century partnerships.
Should Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli achieve this milestone in the coming series, they will become the fastest to reach the 5000-run mark. All other pairs in the 5000-run partnership list have taken more than 100 innings to reach the milestone while they are 94 short of it in just 81 innings.
Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara is the only batter to have crossed the 5000-run partnership with two different batters – Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Rohit Sharma could join them soon when he and Kohli add 94 more runs together.
Speaking about India, the hosts have lost the services of Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, and Ruturaj Gaikwad as all three are down with covid-19 while KL Rahul is unavailable for the first ODI. Sharma has confirmed that he will open alongside Ishan Kishan, who was in the T20I squad and later drafted in the ODI squad. Hard-hitting batsman Shahrukh Khan has also been added in the ODI squad.
This is Rohit’s first ODI series as a full-time captain. Sunday’s ODI will also be the 1000th ODI for India as they become the first team to reach this historic landmark. Currently, out of 999 matches, India have 518 wins and 431 losses.
