India's Rohit Sharma on Sunday broke Sanath Jayasuriya's 22-year-old record for most runs in a calendar year by an opener across formats while skipper Virat Kohli reaffirmed his supreme status by finishing as the leading run-getter in 2019.
Kohli amassed 2455 runs across formats as his 85 helped India beat West Indies by four wickets in the series-deciding third ODI in Cuttack on Sunday. His limited overs deputy Rohit shattered another record in the run chase.
Coming into the third and final ODI against the West Indies here, Rohit was only nine short of eclipsing the former Sri Lankan swashbuckler, who tallied 2387 runs in 1997.
When the Mumbaikar got out for a run-a-ball 63 at the Barabati Stadium, Rohit aggregated 2442 runs. The batsman scored 10 hundreds across formats and as many half centuries in the year, averaging 53.08 in 47 innings.
Rohit went past the former Sri Lanka captain's record when he took a single off a Sheldon Cottrell delivery.
Among the other notable openers, who had good seasons are Virender Sehwag (2355 runs) in 2008 and Matthew Hayden (2349 runs) in 2003.
Rohit is also the highest run-scorer this year in ODI cricket.
This has been a good year for Rohit. He was the highest scorer in the 2019 World Cup and subsequently took to opening in Test cricket by storm. He scored 529 runs in four innings after making his debut as a Test opener in the home series against South Africa.
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