Rohit Sharma has rocked the World Cup 2023 early with his bat and captaincy. The Indian team is at the top of the 10-team points table with 3 bumper victories, which has seen their Net Run Rate shoot up to +1.821, in 3 matches.
After being dismissed for a duck in the first match against Australia, the right-handed India opener played two thunderous knocks against Afghanistan (131 runs in 84 balls), and Pakistan (86 runs in 63 balls).
Rohit Sharma’s bat has been in blistering form and that must be intimidating for his next opponent: Bangladesh.
Rohit Sharma could make a special hat-trick against Bangladesh; will become the first player in history to do so
India will play Bangladesh next, on October 19 in Pune, which is expected to be a batting-friendly surface.
In Pune, against Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma will have a chance to make history by becoming only the second batsman to hit three consecutive centuries against an opponent.
Rohit cracked centuries against Bangladesh in the last two times he faced them in ODI World Cups: against Bangladesh, he scored 137 runs in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final in Melbourne, and then scored 104 runs in the 2019 World Cup group game in Birmingham.
Only AB de Villiers has hit three consecutive centuries against an opponent, West Indies, in the ODI World Cup – ABD smoked hundreds against West Indies in the 2007, 2011, and 2015 World Cups. AB de Villiers is also the only batsman to hit three hundreds against a single opposition in ODI World Cup history. So if Rohit hits a hundred against Bangladesh in Pune, he will join this elite list that currently includes only AB de Villiers.
Rohit Sharma already has brilliant numbers against Bangladesh in ODIs. He averages an impressive 56 in 16 knocks against Bangladesh in ODIs, having notched up 3 centuries and 3 fifties.
He was, however, dismissed for a duck when these two teams last met in the Asia Cup 2023 in September in Colombo. Rohit fell prey to the swing movement of pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who is, though, unlikely to play against India.
Bangladesh had started their World Cup campaign with a win over Afghanistan, but then suffered losses to England and New Zealand. They will be fighting against India to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
