During the first innings of the Rajkot ODI against Australia, Indian limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma completed his 7,000 ODI runs as an opening batsman. With this achievement, he created history as he became the fastest ODI opener to complete 7,000 ODI runs at this position.
India and Australia are currently busy in the second ODI of the three-match ODI series at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Rajkot). Ahead of this ODI, Rohit scored 6,987 ODI runs as an opener, and he was 13 runs short from the 7,000 ODI runs at this position.
While Rohit Sharma was dismissed for just ten runs in the first game of this series at Mumbai, the right-handed opening batsman easily reached the 13-run mark in the Rajkot ODI. He became the 11th ODI opener to score 7,000 runs.
However, it was the 137th ODI innings for Rohit Sharma as an opener, and he became the fastest batsman to reach the mark of 7,000 ODI runs as an opener. With this achievement, Rohit broke the previous fastest record of former South African cricketer Hashim Amla. Amla completed the 7,000 ODI runs milestone as an opener in 147 ODI innings. Meanwhile, the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is in the next position as he reached this feat in 160 ODI innings.
Top five fastest batsmen to complete 7,000 ODI runs as the opener
| Player (Team) | No. of ODI innings to complete 7,000 runs as an opener |
| Rohit Sharma (India) | 137 |
| Hashim Amla (South Africa) | 147 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (India) | 160 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) | 165 |
| Sourav Ganguly (India) | 168 |
Rohit Sharma is the fourth Indian opener to score 7,000+ ODI runs
Rohit Sharma became the fourth Indian opening batsman to score 7,000 ODI runs. The other three Indian cricketers in this list are Sachin Tendulkar (15,310 runs), Sourav Ganguly (9,146 runs) and Virender Sehwag (7,518 runs).
Coming back to this Rajkot ODI, Rohit Sharma was dismissed on 42 runs off 44 balls (6 fours). After providing the 81 runs partnership for the first wicket along with Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit lost his wicket after the Aussie leg-spinner Adam Zampa trapped him for an lbw. By the end of this latest innings, Rohit Sharma has scored 7,029 runs as an ODI opener.