India’s Rohit Sharma has become the fastest Asian opener to get to the 1000-run mark in Test cricket.
He managed the feat in 17 innings – while batting on Day 2 of the fourth Test against England – breaking the earlier record set by Mayank Agarwal who got to the milestone in 19 innings, in December 2020.
Among his contemporaries from the world, Rohit was the third-fastest to get to the landmark after English’s Herbert Sutcliffe who did so in 13 innings and Len Hutton in 16. Rohit’s 17 innings equals the record set by former South African captain Graeme Smith.
Although a modern great in the shorter formats, Rohit has played only 38 Test (including the 4th Test) matches for India, compared to the 224 ODIs and 108 T20Is he’s played. He made his debut in the format an entire seven years after playing his first ODI and was handed the opener’s role only in October 2019 when he played the home against South Africa at Visakhapatnam.
Rohit scored 176 and 127 in his first two innings as India’s Test opener. In the very same series, he scored a 212 in Ranchi and has since been India’s top choice for the opening slot.
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