Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull, who is now a famous commentator, has recently come up with his view where he feels that the present Indian limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma is a better ODI opener than the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar, who retired from the international cricket in 2013, mostly played as an opener in the ODI cricket. Though he started his international career as a middle-order batsman in late 1989, the right-handed batsman first time came to bat as an opener in 1994 during the ODI series against the hosts New Zealand and the visitors India. Out of his 452 ODI innings, Tendulkar opened in 340 innings.
Tendulkar finished his international career with the record of 15310 ODI runs as an opener (average 48.29), including 45 centuries and 75 half-centuries. He is still the only ODI opener to score 10,000+ runs.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma also started his international career as a middle-order batsman in 2007. Though he first time opened in ODI in 2011, he started to open regularly from early 2013. After he achieved huge success as an opener in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, Rohit has evolved as a special batsman which the right-handed batsman is still maintaining.
Rohit has scored 7148 ODI runs as an opener after playing 138 innings (average 58.11), including 27 centuries and 31 half-centuries. If Tendulkar was the first batsman to hit the ODI double-century, Rohit is still the only batsman to hit more than one ODI double-century (thrice), including holding the record of the highest individual score in ODI history (264 runs).
Simon Doull feels that Rohit is the better ODI opener than Tendulkar. Talking about this, Doull pointed out their ODI career stats.
Doull said in ICC’s Cricket Inside Out, “Well, I personally have copped flak in India because I’ve said he’s the No.1, he’s the first opener picked in an all-time Indian side, hands down. I’m sorry, but you look at the stats, look at the numbers. He averages 49. A strike rate of 88. Sachin averages 44 with a strike-rate of 86, I think, across the careers.
“So, numbers-wise, Rohit’s numbers are phenomenal, they are better than Sachin’s, that’s why to me he’s the first name on the list, and that’s only because you start at No.1, there’s Kohli on the list, Dhoni’s on the list as you get further down the order.”
Rohit Sharma is just a phenomenal player: Simon Doull
Talking about Rohit, Doull further praised him for his incredible ability to increase the strike-rate with the time progress of an innings.
Doull added, “His ability to increase his strike-rate past that, even it’s past 60, 70, 80… You don’t see Rohit Sharma getting stuck in the ’90s very often and labouring through the ’90s either. He is just a phenomenal player.”