Rohit Sharma becomes 3rd Indian, overall 11th opener to score over 13000 runs in international cricket

Rohit Sharma was also the second-fastest to the 10,000, 11,000, and 12,000-run marks as an international opener.

On Thursday, India captain Rohit Sharma reached 13,000 runs as an international opener in the World Test Championship Final against Australia at the Oval in London. After being dismissed on 15 in the first innings, Rohit achieved the feat during the second innings of the final.

Rohit scored 15 runs from 26 deliveries in the first innings of the WTC 2023 final. As he played across the line, he got out lbw to Pat Cummins. He went across a lot during the run chase, but he didn't play across against the new ball until it was bowled short. 

He got off to a fast start in the second innings, timing the ball perfectly. However, Rohit was unable to turn his strong start into a massive score. In an attempt to sweep Nathan Lyon, he played too soon and was caught in front of the stumps. He chose DRS, but it could not save him. He was caught after scoring 43 runs off 60 balls, including seven fours and one six.

Rohit Sharma third fastest opener to 13000 plus runs in international cricket, behind Matthew Hayden and Sachin Tendulkar

Rohit Sharma began opening for India in limited overs format in 2013 and 2019 in Tests. He had made his ODI and T20I debut in 2007, and his Test debut came in 2013, against West Indies in Kolkata and he hit 177 in his debut knock. He added another century in the next Test in Mumbai, which was the last Test for legend Sachin Tendulkar.

The 36-year-old is the third-fastest opener to the mark, trailing only Matthew Hayden (293 innings) and Sachin Tendulkar (295), having reached the milestone in his 307th innings.

Rohit is only the 11th opening batter to score more than 13,000 runs across formats and only the third Indian after Virender Sehwag (15,758) and Sachin Tendulkar (15,335) to achieve this feat.

In his first match as a Test opener in 2019, Rohit scored centuries in both innings against South Africa at Vishakhapatnam. Rohit has been among the leading openers in the WTC era, scoring over 1800 runs with six centuries and four fifties.

Apart from this, Rohit was also the second-fastest to the 10,000, 11,000, and 12,000-run marks as an international opener, behind Tendulkar. Rohit has smashed 38 hundreds (6 - Tests, 4 - T20Is, 28 - ODIs) and 59 fifties (35 - ODIs, 24 - T20Is, 4 - Tests) in the opening position.

He has scored 1826* runs in Tests with 6 centuries and at an average of 52.08. He has 7807 runs in ODIs with 28 centuries and is the only opener to score three double-centuries in Tests including the highest ever score of 264.

In T20Is, he has 3372 runs with 4 centuries, the joint-most ever at a strike rate of 141.32.