Indian skipper Rohit Sharma entered in a unique list when he came out for the toss in IND vs AUS World Cup opener on Sunday. The 36-year-old surpassed the likes of MS Dhoni, Mohammad Azharuddin to become the oldest captain for India in a World Cup match. The current Indian skipper is leading India in a World Cup match at the age of 36 years, 161 days. Before Rohit, Mohd. Azharuddin (36 years, 124 days) was the oldest skipper to lead India in a World Cup match.
Oldest captain for India in a World Cup match
36y 161d – Rohit Sharma (2023)*
36y 124d – M Azharuddin (1999)
34y 71d – Rahul Dravid (2007)
34y 56d – S Venkataraghavan (1979)
33y 262d – MS Dhoni (2015)
Rohit Sharma on verge of breaking Chris Gayle’s record
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma is on the verge of breaking West Indies’ explosive batter Chris Gayle’s record of most sixes in international cricket. The Indian skipper is currently on 551 sixes and is just 2 sixes away of surpassing Chris Gayle who holds the record for most sixes with 553 maximums.
Earlier, Rohit became the fastest to hit 550 sixes, surpassing Gayle (548) to reach the feat in just 471 innings across formats.
Most international sixes across formats
Chris Gayle (West Indies) – 553 sixes
Rohit Sharma (India) – 551 sixes*
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) – 476 sixes
Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) – 398 sixes
Martin Guptill (New Zealand) – 383 sixes
The 36-year-old also has a chance to become fastest player to reach 1000 runs in ODI World Cup. Rohit has 976 in 17 innings and needs just 24 in this game to surpass David Warner to be quickest to 1000 runs.
Fastest to 1000 runs in ODI World Cup (In innings):
19 – David Warner
20 – Sachin Tendulkar
20 – AB de Villiers
21 – Viv Richards
21 – Sourav Ganguly
Talking about the game, Australian skipper Pat Cummins has won the toss and opted to bat first at Chepauk Stadium. Indian opener Shubman Gill has been ruled out due to being diagnosed with Dengue. Ishan Kishan is set to open with Rohit in India’s World Cup opener.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey(w), Cameron Green, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
