Rohit Sharma Breaks MS Dhoni's Record On T20I Captaincy Debut For India

Wednesday (December 20) was a night to remember for Rohit Sharma. The right-handed batsman was not only making his captaincy debut in T20 Internationals but also went on to lead India to a record win. India defeated Sri Lanka by 93 runs in the first T20 International which is India’s biggest win regarding runs in the shortest format of the game.

Sent in to bat first, India posted a mammoth 180 for 3. Rohit could not make much of an impact with the bat, getting dismissed for just 17 but his teammates made sure to give the bowlers a healthy total to defend. Following Rohit’s departure, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer steadied the ship with a 63-run stand before both of them were dismissed in quick succession. Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni then played a flurry of big shots in the last five overs, collecting 66 runs from them to help India post a big total. Rahul top-scored for the hosts with 61 while Dhoni scored 39 off 22 and Pandey 32 off 18.

READ MORE : Rohit Sharma Goes All Emotional On Wife Ritika Sajdeh’s Birthday

In reply, Sri Lanka were all out for just 87. The Islanders were looking set to give the hosts a hard time after racing away to 39 for 1 in the fifth over. However, their chase was completely derailed once Yuzvendra Chahal accounted for the in-form Upul Tharanga. The former Sri Lanka skipper’s dismissal opened the floodgates as the visitors kept on losing wickets at regular intervals before being folded up for a paltry 87. Chahal starred with the ball for the hosts, picking up 4 for 23 and was well supported by Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav who bagged 3 and two wickets respectively.

READ MORE: Suresh Raina Lauds Team India For ‘Spinning Their Way To Victory’ In First T20I Against Sri Lanka

The night capped off finely for Rohit who also became only the second Indian after Virat Kohli to cross the 1500-run mark in the shortest format of the game. And the win became further memorable for him as he became the fastest to lead a team to fifty wins in the shortest format of the game. Rohit achieved the milestone in his 81st game and left behind MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir. The record was previously held by Dhoni who took 86 games to reach 50 wins as skipper.

Overall, Rohit is third on the list of quickest to 50 wins as captain. He has led Mumbai Indians to 49 wins. The 30-year old, who is the only captain to win three IPL titles, has led Mumbai Indians to 45 wins in IPL and four wins in now-scrapped Champions League T20.

Here is the list of captains who are quickest to 50 wins in T20s:

Video of the day: