There is a certain buzz in the environment whenever India plays one-day international cricket. There are just two reasons for it – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. While Kohli is injured and will miss the ensuing Afghanistan ODI series, Rohit is here.
He is fit and firing. A week ago, questions surrounded Rohit Sharma’s fitness. Today, the conversation is how he will fare in the first ODI at the picturesque Dharamsala on Saturday.
After missing some games of IPL 2026 with a hamstring injury and requiring clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, Rohit is finally set to return. He will certainly have a point to prove. At 39, every ODI outing is being viewed through the lens of the 2027 World Cup.
Can he still deliver at the highest level? Can he remain fit enough to lead India into another global tournament? And perhaps most importantly, can he continue scoring runs at the level expected from one of the greatest ODI openers of all time?
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When Rohit walks out in Dharamsala on June 13, he will become the oldest Indian to feature in an ODI. At 39 years and 44 days, he will surpass the long-standing record of 1983 World Cup hero Mohinder Amarnath, who played his final ODI at the age of 39 years and 36 days in 1989.
How quickly the times have passed. A highly talented middle-order batter who started young and was backed consistently by MS Dhoni will now become the oldest Indian to feature in an ODI. He made his ODI debut 19 years ago (2007) in Belfast, where India’s upcoming T20Is against Ireland are in uncertainty.
His comeback, however, comes after a mixed period. Rohit managed only 61 runs in three innings against New Zealand earlier this year and spent much of IPL 2026 battling fitness concerns. Even after returning for the Mumbai Indians, he was largely used as an Impact Player. Having said that, he didn’t disappoint. We saw vintage a couple of times in the tournament, with his best knock coming in MI’s first match against KKR, where he smashed 78 off 38.
AAP Image/David Woodley via Alamy ImagesAlso, before the New Zealand ODI series, Rohit was in supreme touch. He returned to action against Australia Down Under and made 202 runs in that series at an average of 101.00. Then, he made two fifties in three ODIs against South Africa before walloping a 155 in a Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) game.
20,000 runs and another opening record within touching distance
The Afghanistan series could also see Rohit enter some elite company. He currently has 33 centuries and 61 half-centuries in ODI cricket. For India, that is one of the most. Only Sachin Tendulkar (145) and Virat Kohli (131) have more 50+ scores in the format for India. Rohit needs just another 50+ score to move past Rahul Dravid, who also had 94 50+ scores just like the Hitman.
Meanwhile, Rohit has scored 15,994 international runs as an opener and needs only six more runs to become just the seventh player in history to reach the 16,000-run mark at the top of the order. Among Indians, only Virender Sehwag has crossed 16,000 international runs while opening.
Most international runs as opener ft. Rohit Sharma
PlayerSpanInningsRunsAverage100s50sSanath Jayasuriya1993-201156319,29835.864195Chris Gayle2000-202150618,86739.8042102David Warner2009-202446218,74442.894997Graeme Smith2002-201442116,95042.693788Desmond Haynes1978-199443816,12041.873596Virender Sehwag2001-201340016,11941.543667Rohit Sharma2009-202638315,99445.304583Rohit Sharma in focus as he eyes breaking massive records in IND vs AFG ODI series Inside Sport India.
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