Senior India batter Rohit Sharma delivered a strong performance in the third ODI against Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Chasing 219, he reached his half-century off 47 balls, helping keep India in contention during the run chase.
With that innings, Rohit moved past Rahul Dravid to record the most 50-plus scores for India in ODIs. Both players were previously level on 94 such scores, but Rohit now stands at 95 following his half-century. Only Sachin Tendulkar with 145 and Virat Kohli with 131 remain ahead of him on the all-time list.
Most 50+ scores for India in ODIs:
| Player | Number of 50+ scores |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 145 |
| Virat Kohli | 131 |
| Rohit Sharma | 95 |
| Rahul Dravid | 94 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 93 |
Most runs as Indianย as opener
Rohit Sharma’s brilliant innings also saw him achieve another major milestone. The former India skipper overtook Virender Sehwag to become India’s highest run-scorer as an opener in international cricket. Having already surpassed Sachin Tendulkar earlier, Rohit further strengthened his position at the top with a fluent 79-run knock against Afghanistan, taking his tally to 16,137 international runs as an opener.
Pressure is a privilege for Rohit
Rohit arrived in Chennai under tremendous pressure. Keeper-batter Ishan Kishan played some phenomenal cricket in the ongoing series and on top of that, the team management wants to keep Yashasvi Jaiswal in the loop for the ODI World Cup 2027 as well. In such a scenario, Rohit had to prove his mettle to remain in the hunt. There was plenty of chatter regarding Rohit possibly playing his final international game, but the Mumbai batter has put that to rest.
He started the innings slowly and once he found momentum, the cricketer was difficult to contain. The visitors wanted to trap him with spin, but he managed to keep going and stitched a valuable 170-run partnership with Jaiswal as the duo pushed Afghanistan out of the contest.ย
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Ahmad Malik
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav
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