Rohit Sharma, India’s limited-overs deputy skipper, said that Yuvraj Singh expected him to break Virender Sehwag’s record of 219. Sehwag scored the double century in 2011 against the West Indies in Indore and 2013, Rohit was on the threshold of topping the ginormous numbers. However, Sharma only managed 209 runs off 158 balls before getting out to Clint McKay in the 50th over.
In the game against Australia in Bengaluru, Rohit started off in a cautious manner. But once he got the measure of the conditions and the bowling, he cut loose. India reached a total of 383 on the board and won by 57 runs. Apart from Yuvraj, Rohit also said that Shikhar Dhawan also wanted him to break the record. Sharma made the revelations on Instagram Live with Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin.
ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma recalls Dhoni’s Advice During Maiden Double Ton
During the chat, Rohit said, “When I went back after scoring the double century, someone was telling me that if you would have batted another over or so you would have broken Virender Sehwag’s record also. The expectation in the dressing room is really high. There were three or four guys who wanted me (Rohit) to score 10 or 15 more runs, Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) was one of them and maybe Shikhar Dhawan too.”
Though he couldn’t break the record first time around, in 2014 he left no stone unturned. He went on to register a score of 264 runs against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The knock was laced with 33 boundaries and nine sixes and he played at a strike-rate of 152.60.
It still remains as the highest individual score in the ODI format, albeit a number of them have scored double tons since then. Rohit scored his third double-century against Sri Lanka, scored in 2017 at the PCA Stadium in Mohali in December 2017. Last year, he became the first batsman to score five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup.
ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma Recalls The Story Of Becoming MI Skipper
In 224 ODIs for the Men in Blue, Sharma has amassed as many as 9,115 runs with 29 tons and 43 fifties. Even in T20I cricket, he is the only batter with as many as four tons under his belt.
