“Forever grateful”: Rohit Sharma completes 18 years in international cricket
New Delhi [India] June 23 (ANI): It was in June 2007, against Ireland, that a baby-faced 20-year-old Rohit Sharma made his international debut 18 years ago on this day. The two-time ICC Trophy-winning captain for India shared his gratitude for completing 18 years in international cricket.
Since then, the ‘Hitman’ has evolved into one of the bravest openers of all time, a tactical mastermind with a trophy cabinet worth envying, and the calm composure of a monk.
Hitman posted on his Instagram story, “Forever grateful, 23.06.07.”
Under Rohit’s captaincy, India reached the final of the World Test Championship in 2023 and the ODI World Cup final later that same year, both times falling short of the trophy. He remedied that by leading India to the T20 World Cup title in 2024, ending a 13-year wait for ICC silverware, and then the Champions Trophy in 2025.
In 2024, Rohit became the first men’s player to appear in over 150 T20Is, though he announced his retirement from the format after India’s T20 World Cup win.
Sharma has scored 19,700 runs in 499 international matches across all formats. He holds the record for the highest individual score in ODIs, having scored an unbeaten 264 against Sri Lanka.
In T20IS, Rohit is the highest run-getter of all time. In 159 matches, he has amassed 4,221 runs at an average of 32.05, striking at over 140, with five centuries (the most by a player) and 32 fifties, and his best score is 121*.
He retired from T20Is last year as a two-time T20 WC champion. As a T20I captain, he has won 49 out of 62 matches for India, lost 12 and tied one.
The world got a glimpse of Rohit as a white-ball batter, a form of cricket in which he has dominated. In 273 ODIs and 265 innings, he has made 11,168 runs at an average of 48.76 with 32 centuries and 58 fifties.
His best score in ODIs is 264. He is the only batter with three ODI double tons. He is India’s fourth-highest run-getter in ODIs and at 10th place overall.
In Test, Rohit has scored 4,301 runs in 67 Tests and 116 innings, averaging 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties, and his best score being 212. He is India’s leading run-getter in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), with 2,716 runs at an average of 41.15 in 40 Tests, with nine centuries and eight fifties in 69 innings.
As an ODI captain, Rohit led India to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy title win and a runners-up finish in 2023 50-over World Cup at home after a 10-match win streak. He has won 42 out of 56 matches he has led India in ODI, losing just 12, tying one and one being a no result.
The Hitman during the 50-over World Cups hits differently, literally. There are very few batters as threatening as Rohit during an ODI WC. He is India’s third-highest and overall fourth-highest run-getter in WC history, with 1,575 runs in 28 matches at an average of 60.57, seven centuries and six fifties. His best score is 140.
Rohit holds the record for the most centuries during a single World Cup, scoring five during the 2019 World Cup in the UK, where he amassed a chart-topping 648 runs in nine matches with an average of 81.00.
Coming to the Champions Trophy, he is the seventh-highest run-getter and India’s fourth-best with 661 runs in 15 innings at an average of 47.21, with a century and five fifties.
