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From Belfast to Lord's: Rohit Sharma's glittering ODI career for India detailed originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Rohit Sharma may play his last ODI for India at Lord's on July 19, ending a legendary career.
- His numbers include 11,731 runs, 33 hundreds, and cricket's highest individual score, 264.
- The journey moved from a quiet debut in Belfast to several record-breaking innings across nearly two decades.
Lord's may host the closing chapter of Rohit Sharma's dazzling one-day story for India
Cricket fans across India could be gearing up for a bittersweet farewell this weekend, with the historic Lord's Cricket Ground possibly becoming the final stop in Rohit Sharma's stunning one-day international career.
India take on England in the third and concluding match of their ODI series, and word going around suggests the veteran opener might hang up his ODI boots once the game is done.
Nothing has been made official yet by either the player or the board, but just the thought of it has turned this fixture into one of the most heartfelt occasions Indian cricket followers have witnessed in recent memory.
Should Lord's indeed turn out to be his last dance in the format, it would bring things full circle for a career that quietly kicked off in Belfast back in 2007. Across the years that followed, this graceful right-handed batter grew from a middle-order hopeful into arguably the greatest opener the 50-over game has ever produced.
MORE: Rumours swirl as Rohit Sharma tipped to retire at Lord's
A look at Rohit Sharma's ODI numbers
Before diving into the milestones that shaped his career, it's worth taking stock of the full picture, which explains why so many rank him among the finest white-ball batters this generation has seen.
| Record | Stats |
|---|---|
| Matches | 286 |
| Runs | 11,731 |
| Batting average | 48.00 |
| Centuries | 33 |
| Half-centuries | 62 |
| Highest score | 264 |
| Double centuries | 3 |
| 150-plus scores | 8 |
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BCCI/Creimas
Where and when did Rohit Sharma's ODI journey begin?
Rohit stepped onto the international one-day stage on June 23, 2007, facing Ireland at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast as part of the Future Cup.
He was slotted into the middle order, but never actually got the chance to bat that day, since India chased down the target with ease, sealing a nine-wicket win with four overs still in hand.
MORE: Rohit OUT Jaiswal IN: Fans want Yashasvi to grab India ODI opening spot
How did Rohit Sharma fare in his milestone ODI appearances?
Rohit's game number 50 came against Sri Lanka on February 24, 2012, at Hobart's Bellerive Oval during the Commonwealth Bank Series, where he managed just five runs off 13 balls before getting out.
More than a year on, his 100th appearance arrived against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo's Queens Sports Club on July 26, 2013. Batting at number four, he chipped in 13 runs from 18 deliveries as India cruised past a target of 145 for a seven-wicket win.
Not long after this game, the team management made the call to push him up as a permanent opener, a decision that would completely reshape the rest of his career.
His 150th match followed against New Zealand at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla on October 20, 2016. Becoming just the 19th Indian to hit this mark, he scored 15 off 27 deliveries before falling to Mitchell Santner, and India ended up losing that contest by six runs as the Kiwis squared the series.
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The 200-match landmark came on January 31, 2019, against New Zealand at Hamilton's Seddon Park. Leading the side in Virat Kohli's absence, he could only manage seven runs from 23 balls before holing out to Trent Boult in a match India lost by eight wickets.
Game 250, though, turned out to be a night to remember. It arrived during the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka at Colombo's R. Premadasa Stadium on September 17, 2023.
He became only the ninth Indian to reach the 250-match mark, and though he didn't get a chance to bat after the Lankans folded for just 50, he lifted the Asia Cup trophy as skipper following a comprehensive 10-wicket win.
If the retirement talk turns out to be accurate, his final ODI appearance would come against England at Lord's, giving his story a fitting finish after starting out in Belfast almost 19 years back.
| ODI Match | Year | Opponent | Venue | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ODI | 2007 | Ireland | Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast | Did not bat |
| 50th ODI | 2012 | Sri Lanka | Bellerive Oval, Hobart | 5 |
| 100th ODI | 2013 | Zimbabwe | Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo | 13 |
| 150th ODI | 2016 | New Zealand | Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi | 15 |
| 200th ODI | 2019 | New Zealand | Seddon Park, Hamilton | 7 |
| 250th ODI | 2023 | Sri Lanka | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | Did not bat |
| Last ODI* | 2026 | England | Lord's, London | To be played* |
*The final ODI is subject to confirmation, pending any official retirement announcement from Rohit Sharma after the third match against England.
The innings that reshaped Rohit Sharma's story
While Rohit produced no shortage of memorable knocks over the years, what truly set him apart was his ability to turn centuries into massive historic scores.
His first innings of 150-plus runs came against South Africa in Kanpur on October 11, 2015, where he smashed 150 off 133 balls. However, India fell agonisingly short by just five runs despite his heroics.
In fact, he has gone past 150 runs eight times in ODIs, more than any other batter in the format's history.
His first double hundred came against Australia in Bengaluru on November 2, 2013, when he blasted 209.
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Just over a year later, he rewrote the record books entirely with a mammoth 264 against Sri Lanka at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on November 13, 2014.
It is still the highest individual score ever recorded in ODI cricket. His third double hundred followed against Sri Lanka in Mohali on December 13, 2017, after he finished unbeaten on 208.
No batter in the sport's history has three ODI double centuries to their name, and it just shows how capable Rohit has been of building marathon innings in the 50-over format.
MORE: Ravindra Jadeja out of India's 2027 ODI World Cup plan
What are the notable ODI records held by Rohit Sharma?
Rohit's name is scattered all across the record books, and a good chunk of what he's achieved remains beyond anyone else's reach.
That innings of 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014 still stands as the highest individual score in one-day history. During that knock, he struck 33 boundaries and nine sixes, with 186 of his runs coming through fours and sixes alone. Those 33 fours also remain the most by any batter in a single ODI innings.
He's the only player to have scored three ODI double hundreds, and his eight scores of 150-plus also sit at the top of that particular list.
His World Cup exploits deserve a mention of their own. During the 2019 edition in England, he hammered five centuries, the most anyone has scored in a single World Cup. Across all his World Cup appearances, he has struck seven hundreds in total, sharing the all-time record with Sachin Tendulkar.
His reputation as one of the game's biggest hitters holds up just as well. Rohit owns the record for the most sixes (656) by any batter across all formats of international cricket. Chris Gayle is second on the list with 553 hits.
Rohit also got to both 10,000 and 11,000 ODI runs faster than anyone barring Virat Kohli, a testament to just how consistent he remained over more than a decade at the top.
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(Getty)
What Rohit Sharma leaves behind in ODI cricket?
Numbers alone don't do justice to what Rohit brought to one-day cricket. His batting looked almost too easy, making the hardest shots seem routine, while his patience let him construct innings that frequently put games out of reach for the opposition.
Being pushed up to open the batting back in 2013 changed not just his own trajectory but India's fortunes in white-ball cricket as a whole.
From that point on, he became one of the most feared names in world cricket, someone capable of dismantling any attack without breaking a sweat.
Should Lord's mark the end of the road for his ODI career, Rohit Sharma will walk away as one of the greatest to have played the format. He remained as an unused substitute on his debut in Belfast but went on to play several record-shattering innings and unforgettable World Cup runs, which has left a mark on the sport that will last for generations.
Fans won't just remember the numbers he racked up; they'll remember the sheer consistency that made him one of the finest.
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