As an opening batsman, Rohit Sharma is always a special cricketer. On Sunday (22nd December), during the Cuttack ODI, Rohit Sharma created a new record in the opening batting after breaking the 22-year-old record.
This is the best year for Rohit Sharma in his international career. Everyone will always remember his extraordinary performances in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. While India lost the semi-final of that tournament, Rohit finished as the leading run-scorer in that tournament as he scored 648 runs in nine innings with an average of 81.00. The right-handed batsman hit five centuries in that tournament, including three in consecutive innings.
Then Rohit Sharma shined in the Test cricket as an opening batsman. Coming to bat as a Test opener for the first time during Visakhapatnam Test against South Africa, Rohit scored 176 and 127 runs. Later, in the Ranchi Test against the same team, Rohit scored his maiden Test double-century by playing an incredible knock of 212 runs.
Rohit has continued his form in the latest ODI series against Windies where he scored a match-winning 159 runs in the Visakhapatnam ODI.
Rohit Sharma broke Sanath Jayasuriya’s record during Cuttack ODI
By scoring nine runs in the Cuttack ODI, Rohit Sharma became the new record holder of the most international runs as an opener in a calendar year. To create this record, Rohit broke the 22-year-old record as the former Sri Lankan opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya was holding the previous record after scoring 2,387 international runs in 1997.
Top five most yearly run-scorers in international cricket
| Player (Team) | Matches (Innings) | Runs scored | Average | 100s/50s | Year |
| Rohit Sharma (India) | 47 (47) | 2,442 | 53.08 | 10/9 | 2019 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) | 37 (44) | 2,387 | 58.21 | 6/15 | 1997 |
| Virender Sehwag (India) | 33 (46) | 2,355 | 52.33 | 4/14 | 2008 |
| Matthew Hayden (Australia) | 43 (52) | 2,349 | 54.62 | 5/8 | 2003 |
| Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) | 43 (48) | 2,296 | 54.66 | 5/15 | 1996 |
In the series-decider Cuttack ODI against Windies, coming to chase the 316 runs target, opener Rohit Sharma scored 63 runs and put the opening partnership of 122 runs with KL Rahul.
In 2019, opener Rohit Sharma scored 2,442 international runs in 47 innings with an average of 53.08. The right-handed batsman hit 10 centuries and 10 half-centuries in the international cricket in 2019.