ODI Double Centuries: Rohit Sharma 3, all others combined 4

Rohit Sharma (Photo: BCCI)

New Delhi: Of the 2399 ODI players to this day, Rohit Sharma alone has hit three double centuries in the format while the rest 2398 combined have scored four. 

Sachin Tendulkar was the first man to hit the unprecedented double hundred, but Rohit has taken a special liking to it, getting there for the third time with his 208 not out against Sri Lanka at Mohali's IS Bindra PCA Stadium on Wednesday. It pushed India's total to a mammoth 392/4 in the second match of the series.

Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Martin Guptill are the other three batsmen who sent bowlers on a leather hunt with double centuries in 50-over internationals. 

Such has been Rohit's dominance in white-ball cricket that he has the highest scores for India now for the fifth year running.

2013 - Rohit Sharma 209
2014 - Rohit Sharma 264
2015 - Rohit Sharma 150
2016 - Rohit Sharma 171 not out
2017 - Rohit Sharma 208 not out

On Sunday, when he tore into the Lankan bowlers with his 153-ball 208 not out, the Indian 'Hitman' punched 12 sixes and 13 fours.

The record-breaking spree didn't stop there and rewrote many other in the book:

1. Rohit went past Virender Sehwag's 15 ODI hundreds to be at No. 4 among Indians with most ODI centuries after Sachin Tendulkar (49), Virat Kohli (32) and Sourav Ganguly (22). 

2. The Mumbaikar is the second Indian to hit a century in his second match as captain. Interestingly, like Rohit in this series, Virat Kohli too scored two in his first ODI as skipper and a century in the next. Sachin Tendulkar hit a century in the first ODI he led India in.

3. Rohit also equalled Sehwag's 14 hundreds as India opener. Tendulkar (49) and Ganguly (19) are ahead of Rohit and Sehwag. 

4. With his sixth century of 2017, Rohit has now equalled Kohli in the current year and the first Indian opener to do so since Sachin Tendulkar (1996 & 1998) and Ganguly (2000).

5. Rohit has hit a century in every series he has played this year across formats

6. Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan have now equalled Tendulkar-Sehwag in scoring 12 century opening partnerships. Tendulkar and Ganguly are ahead with 21.