Rohit Sharma Becomes 3rd Batsman To Score 3000 Or More Runs In T20Is

India opener Rohit Sharma recorded a major milestone in T20I as he became only the third batsman to reach the 3000-run mark in T20I cricket. He achieved this feat while batting against Namibia on Monday in Dubai.

With a boundary off Ruben Trumpelmann in the third over of India’s innings, Rohit Sharma went past the 3000-run figure during his 108th T20I innings and averages over 30. The right-hander has notched up four centuries and 23 half-centuries in his career before the Namibia game.

At the time of writing, Virat Kohli is the leading T20I run-scorer with 3227 runs followed by New Zealand opener Martin Guptill who has tallied 3115 runs.

Rohit Sharma provides India brisk start in chase of 133

Chasing 133, Rohit Sharma was given a life when he was dropped at short fine leg by Michael van Lingen in the first over which also went for a boundary.

He then attacked David Wiese for a four and a six in the second over before taking 9 runs off Trumpelmann in the third. Sharma smacked a pair of four and a maximum to Bernard Scholtz while KL Rahul launched Wiese for a hit over the rope as India ended the powerplay at 54/0.

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Namibia got a solid start from openers Stephan Baard and Michael van Lingen racing to 31 runs in 4 overs. Lingen stroked Bumrah for a couple of fours before Baard thumped Shami for a maximum.

But, India came back strongly with a flurry of wickets after that. Bumrah drew first blood in the fifth over with Lingen mistiming his pull to mid-off; Craig Williams was stumped for a duck in the sixth over as he missed a delivery from Ravindra Jadeja after dancing down the track. Post the powerplay, Jadeja accounted for Baard’s wicket while R Ashwin sent back Loftie-Eaton leaving Namibia reeling at 47/4.

David Wiese held onto one end but lost partners at the other. Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus was dismissed by Ashwin, and so was Zane Green. In between those two dismissals, Jadeja struck with JJ Smit’s wicket. Rahul Chahar, though, gave 13 runs in his last over, giving Namibia some breathing space.

Bumrah foxed Wiese for 26 off 25 balls with a slower delivery. However, Shami was expensive in the death, conceding 12 in the 18th over and 13 in the 20th over as Namibia posted 132.

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