Local boy Rohit Sharma takes centre stage at Wankhede, looks to continue impressive form

India skipper Rohit Sharma could have a day with destiny in less than 18 days if the dream of lifting the ODI World Cup for Team India at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday (Nov 19) is realised. However, before this, Rohit will look to emerge triumphant in Mumbai, not once but twice (if India don’t play Pakistan in the semis) as he targets another swift outing in the ODI World Cup on Thursday (Nov 2). With India taking on Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, local boy Rohit will have the opportunity to showcase his will to win the World Cup in familiar surroundings.

Can Rohit continue his impressive run?

Having so far taken the ODI World Cup by storm, the 35-year-old will look to get all the pieces right when he takes the field on Thursday. Currently the fourth-highest scorer in the tournament with 398 runs in six matches, Rohit will look to continue his impressive run. He has smashed 20 sixes so far in the World Cup, the most by any player so far in the ODI World Cup. He averages 66.33 with the highest score of 131 against Afghanistan in Pune. His tally of 43 fours is only bettered by South Africa’s Quinton de Kock's 54.

Rohit's interesting numbers

On Thursday when he takes the field against Sri Lanka, it will be the first time that Rohit will be captaining India in an ODI in his hometown Mumbai. Against England, he became just the fifth Indian in history to score 18000 runs in international cricket. The match was also his 100th as captain of the Men in Blue with him winning 74 of those, the most by any Indian captain during the period. Rohit is also the first Indian ever to win each of his first six matches as captain at the ODI World Cup.

The Indian skipper’s 87-run knock against England was his 12th fifty-plus score at the ODI World Cup, with only Sachin Tendulkar scoring more such scores with 21 in World Cup.

Rohit was awarded the Player of the Match for his efforts. He becomes only the second Indian after Shikhar Dhawan to win multiple Player of the Match awards v SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries at the ODI World Cup.

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Overall, his seven Player of the Match awards at the ODI World Cup are now the second most ever after Tendulkar’s nine. Rohit has a great record against Sri Lanka in ODIs having scored the world-record 264-run knock against the islanders in 2014. Interestingly, he has scored two double hundreds against Sri Lanka in the ODI format.

So far in 2023, Rohit has been on a boundary-hitting rampage having achieved the distinction of becoming the first player ever to achieve the double of hitting 100+ fours and 50+ sixes in a calendar year in ODIs.

Rohit’s record at Wankhede

Rohit has a fine record in Tests at the venue while also keeping up with numbers in T20Is. In Tests, he scored an unbeaten 111 in his only innings at the ground. His record in T20Is at the ground is very good too, averaging 41.25 in four matches at an excellent strike rate of 158.65. He is also the only player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history to score more than 2000 runs at the Wankhede Stadium with 2020 runs at an average of 33.11 and a strike rate of 133.95.