ON THIS DAY
Follow UsOne becomes good at what one does repeatedly. Excellence is thus a habit. Whether it be his lazy elegance or insane dependence on strokeplay and unparalleled timing of the ball, Rohit Sharma has stuck to his batting approach no matter what. Hence, it was only fair that he ended up scoring 264 runs in a single ODI innings, the highest by any batsman ever.
What was surprising, however, was the timing of it. Having played his last ODI in August 2014 against England, during which Rohit Sharma was sidelined with a fractured finger, the opener was making a comeback after 10 weeks against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens on November 13. His warm-up to this game was a 145-run knock against the Lankans, which was a hint of things to come.
Despite Rohit Sharma being fit for the five-match ODI series, the board had decided to ease in the opener in the fourth ODI after India had claimed the series 3-0. An in-form Shikhar Dhawan, who had tallied a whopping 283 runs in the first three ODIS, had to give way to Sharma. However, after his compatriot’s knock, the southpaw wouldn’t have minded doing it one bit.
Interestingly, it was Ajinkya Rahane who started with the fireworks, hitting Nuwan Kulasekara for three boundaries in the opening over. Sharma was still finding his footing and when he would let Angelo Mathews bowl a maiden in the fourth over, not a single soul could have predicted how the batsman would eventually end up with.
Until Rahane got out for 28 in the eighth over, Rohit Sharma was almost playing a Test knock; he was at 11 from 23 balls. His first boundary came in the eleventh over off Shaminda Eranga’s delivery, which was a textbook flick with the ball zipping towards fine-leg. However, even that didn’t see an acceleration in his run rate.
It was only after Ambati Rayudu’s dismissal and Virat Kohli coming to the crease that Sharma was seen taking his chances. He would hit four boundaries across the 14th, 15th and 16th overs, and the Eden Garden crowd was gradually sensing the heat rise.
On This Day @ImRo45 's 264 world record has been created by the ©️Ro 😎🏆🔥#Happy264Day#RohitSharma 🐐 pic.twitter.com/6S83yuoQ6M
— THE SAVIOUR SSMB™ 😊 (@45_7RODOMB) November 13, 2023
Sharma would reach his 50 in the 24th over with India’s ship now settled, as the opener looked to open his hands with India taking the batting powerplay in the 30th over. The opener sent Kulasekara for two boundaries and a six in the very first over before the future India captain reached his century in the 32nd over, a surprising run-a-ball knock.
India was at 186/2 and calls for the rise in tempo were growing louder from the stands. Sharma, who was cautious so far, decided to open his hands and Seekkuge Prasanna was hit for a boundary and a sixer. Eranga was hit for two boundaries on the next over and Ajantha Mendis was met with the same treatment thereafter. It became a pattern as Sharma started taking eight to ten runs in boundaries every over.
Rohit Sharma would bring up his 150 in the 39th over, but his slowing body was evident and Virat Kohli was run out in the process. Suresh Raina remained a passenger amidst all this as India was reduced to 283/4 in 41 overs. With only Robin Uthappa remaining as a specialist batsman and the team sitting in a prime position to set up a huge target, Sharma took the reins upon his hands.
Come the 44th over, he would hit Mendis for four boundaries and it was evident that Sharma was now hitting the ball almost at will. The Eden Garden crowd was about to witness some otherworldly form of hitting in the coming overs.
Sharma had taken a special liking towards Eranga and Kulasekara and he would single-handedly score 38 runs off their two overs - 47th and 48th - solely in boundaries. Among the five boundaries and two sixes that Rohit hit in these two overs, he ended up playing one of the most incredible shots in cricket history. Facing Kulasekara, the Indian opener would come across the off stump to take the ball at half-volley, before flicking it over the midwicket boundary.
Not only had it defied physics but psychology as well. There was no way a batsman could anticipate a bowler’s next move to that level. Before Sharma was finally dismissed on the last ball of India’s innings, he had ended up hitting a record-breaking 33 boundaries and nine sixes.
The duo of Sharma and Uthappa tallied 128 runs in the last 58 balls of their innings, and the opener scored 112 runs out of them. There were hardly any shots that Rohit didn’t hit or any corner of the Eden Garden that wasn’t exploited.
When asked what was his favorite shot of the innings, a cheeky Rohit said, “ I really cannot pick out one. I will try my best to get to 300, but as of now, I will take 264”
However, it was captain Kohli who was delighted with his compatriot’s knock. Praising Rohit’s knock, he had said, “Today is the kind of day I can tell my kids I was there. I don't think this record is going to be broken anytime soon. I was glad I was batting with him.”
