When India needed their skipper the most, Rohit Sharma stepped up with blazing innings of 72 runs off 41 balls on Tuesday during the vital match against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2022. This helped reinvigorate the squad after falling two down early in the Super 4 game in Dubai. And on the way to his 32nd fifty or better in the Twenty20 International format, Rohit destroyed two incredible records in the Asia Cup, that were previously held by cricketing greats Sachin Tendulkar and Shahid Afridi respectively.
There was a lot of responsibility on Rohit to not only pull India back from that low point but also to create the groundwork for the middle-order power hitters to play their game with confidence so that India could record a difficult total. During his blazing innings of 72 runs off 41 balls, the captain hit five boundaries and four maximums. As a result, India went from being 13 for 2 after 2.4 overs to being 110 for 3 after 12.2 overs. And the No. 4 batter, Suryakumar Yadav, did an excellent job of supporting the captain throughout their 97-run partnership. He struck a patient 34 off of 29 balls, and it was laced with a six and one boundary.
Rohit Sharma registers a number of records
As a result of two of the four sixes that Rohit struck during the knock, he surpassed Afridi, who had previously held the record for the maximum amount of sixes hit during an Asia Cup match. The previous record holder, Afridi, now has three fewer maximums than Rohit, who currently holds the top spot with 29 maximums in 31 Asia Cup outings. The legendary cricketer Suresh Raina, who on Tuesday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, is the next best Indian player on the list, with 18 sixes.
On the way to his fifty, Rohit also became the Indian cricketer with the most runs scored in the history of the Asia Cup, surpassing the all-time record held by the great Sachin Tendulkar (970 runs). At the end of his fiery knock, Rohit also became the first batter from India to score 1000 runs in the Asia Cup and third overall, as his current tally stands at 1016 runs in 30 innings. This puts him only behind the Sri Lankan greats Sanath Jayasuriya (1220 runs) and Kumar Sangakkara (1075 runs), who both have over 1,200 runs
In addition, Rohit tied Sachin for the top spot on yet another elusive Asia Cup list. The innings of 72 runs were his eighth fifty-plus performance in the history of the Asia Cup, which ties him with Sachin for second place behind Sangakkara’s total of 12 such efforts.
