Rohit Sharma Becomes The First Opener To Reach 1000 Runs In The ICC World Test Championship

India’s opening batsman Rohit Sharma became the first opener in the ICC World Test Championship to reach 1000 runs. Rohit Sharma achieved the feat during a gritty knock of 49 off nearly 150 deliveries on the second day of the fourth Test against England in Ahmedabad. The elegant right-handed batsman also leads the list of most runs by a top-order batsman in the World Test Championship, followed by David Warner and Dean Elgar with 948 and 848 respectively.

Rohit Sharma also created a string of other records, becoming the fastest Asian to 1000 runs in the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship. India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is the only other Indian batsman to reach that landmark with 1068 under his belt. Marnus Labuschagne leads the run-scoring charts with 1675 runs, followed by Steve Smith with 1341 and Ben Stokes with 1301.

Alongside that, the Nagpur-born opening batsman also became the fastest Asian opener to breach past the 1000-run mark in Test cricket, doing so in 17 innings. The 33-year old surpassed Mayank Agarwal, who got to the milestone in 19 innings. Rohit has become the second-fastest to hammer 1000 Test runs for India. Vinod Kambli leads the list in this regard, accomplishing it in 14 innings, followed by Rohit Sharma’s 17 and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 18.

Rohit Sharma amongst the fastest openers to get to 1000 runs:

Furthermore, Rohit Sharma comes third in the all-time list of the fastest openers to get to 1000 runs, equalling former South African captain Graeme Smith’s record. Former England openers Herbert Sutcliffe and Len Hutton have done so in 13 and 16 innings, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Englishmen have fought back exceptionally well in the ongoing fourth Test against India after putting only 205 on the board. Ben Stokes, who top-scored with 55, responded with the ball by taking the wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to peg India back. At tea, India still trailed by 52, with Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar at the crease.

Also Read: David Lloyd Labels England’s Selection Strategy As Too Defensive For The Fourth Test Against India