On this day in 2013, Rohit Sharma smashed his maiden double ton in ODIs

Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant 209 against Australia, leading India to a 3-2 series win. This was Rohit`s first of a record, three ODI double centuries.

On November 2, 2013 – Rohit Sharma created history by becoming just the third Indian to score an ODI double hundred. Sharma played a brilliant knock of 209 against Australia in the seventh and final game, played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

The knock came at a crucial juncture, with the series tied at 2-2 and Rohit’s knock powered India to a 57-run victory – leading to 3-2 series win.

Incidentally, this was Rohit’s first of three double ton’s in ODI’s. Sharma went on to score 264 against Sri Lanka the following year. Then in December 2017, the Lankan’s again bore the brunt of his onslaught – Sharma scored a record-extending third double-century (208*).

His innings of 209 came of just 158 balls and was studded with 12 fours and a breathtaking 16 sixes. Sharma, opening the innings, carried his bat and completed his double-century in the final over of the innings by Clint McKay, with a six over covers – with the Bangalore crowd going wild in celebrations.

No bowler was spared as one can imagine from Sharma’s stats – 144 of his 209 runs came from boundaries with the sound of the Sharma middling the ball echoing through the city. While he reached his century at a steady pace, his second century came off just 42 balls leading to India posting a mammoth total of 383/6 on the board.

Australia, in reply, put up a brave fight but folded up for 326 in 45.1 overs. Sharma was awarded the both the ‘Man of the Match’ and ‘Man of the Series’ awards.

Up until this point, only eight double-centuries have been scored in ODI’s with Rohit Scoring the rest of them. Sachin Tendulkar (First-player ever to reach the mark), Virender Sehwag, Martin Guptill, Chris Gayle and Fakhar Zaman are the other players to have reached the milestone.