Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma stand on the brink of scripting massive records when they take the field on Saturday at Headingley, Leeds in ICC World Cup 2019. While Kohli stands in touching distance of joining idol Sachin Tendulkar in an elite list, Rohit has a chance to etch his name as one of the greatest players to have embraced the tournament.
Kohli requires five runs more to become the third Indian to reach the milestone of 1000 runs in World Cups after Sachin and Sourav Ganguly. While the Master Blaster has amassed 2278 runs in 44 innings, Ganguly scored 1006 runs in 21 innings. In fact, if Kohli scores 12 runs against Sri Lanka, he will become the second-highest Indian scorer in World Cups.
The Indian skipper has been on a scoring spree in World Cup 2019, where he had managed to record a streak of five half-century scores that put him alongside Steve Smith. However, the 42nd century stands elusive to Kohli as he is yet to score a ton in World Cup 2019.
On the other hand, Rohit has been in a beast mode in the ongoing tournament with four centuries already. His 102-run knock against Bangladesh saw him equal Kumar Sangakkara’s record of four centuries in 2015; no other batsman has scored more hundreds in a single edition of the showpiece event. Hence, another triple-figure mark, and Rohit will rewrite a fresh piece of history to his name.
Rohit has amassed 544 runs in seven innings in World Cup 2019 at an average of 90.66 with four tons and a half-century. If he scores 56 runs against Sri Lanka, en route to yet another expected hundred, the Hitman will become the fourth batsman in World Cup history to score 600-plus runs in a single edition. Sachin’s record of 673 runs in the 2003 edition still stands strong atop on the list, followed by Australia’s Matthew Hayden (659 runs in 2007). Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan joined the elite company on Friday with his fifth half-century in World Cup 2019, against Pakistan.
Meanwhile, India will look to end their league stage with a win that would assure them of a top-of-the-table finish given Australia lose against South Africa. The match stands as a final opportunity for India to lock in on their middle-order lineup ahead of the semifinal fixture.
SOURCE-TIMES NOW NEWS
