If you ask Rohit Sharma to walk on fire, he will do it happily for the team. Such is Hitman’s commitment to the team and the game that all individual records will take a backseat.

After England’s openers outpaced and outscored India in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals, RO felt there was a need to change the template and accelerate from the word go. The change was there for all to see as Hitman simply took his game to the next level.

To learn what batting with intent is all about, just watch our Mumbaicha Raja at the crease.

Rohit Sharma, pre-T20 World Cup 2022

If you had to associate RO and ODI cricket in two words it would be ‘Daddy Hundreds’. Hitman was on a different planet as he registered the highest individual score by an Indian cricketer in ODIs for eight straight years from 2013 to 2020.

An enviable ODI career with more than 9000 runs, including 29 centuries and 45 fifties, at a strike rate of 89.18. This wonderful run was headlined by the five centuries that Hitman scored in a single edition of the ODI World Cup in 2019, the most by any player in the history of the event. These were RO’s numbers before the T20 World Cup in 2022.

It would have been easier to rest on the laurels, but Rohit Sharma being Rohit Sharma put the team ahead of him. With the 2023 ODI World Cup the only thing on RO’s mind, he brought a conscious change to his batting approach, especially in the powerplay.

Hitman firing on all cylinders

Hitman has amassed 1490 runs at an average of 53.21 in the ODIs he has played since the T20 World Cup 2022 debacle. What is more striking is that RO’s strike rate has gone to 119.97 from his career rate of 89.18 till then, a massive jump of more than 30 percentage points.

Astonishing! RO became a nightmare to the opposition bowlers sending them for a leather hunt. Though this approach came with a high risk of getting dismissed for small scores, Hitman embraced it with open arms as it benefitted the team.

In T20Is as well, Hitman did not spare the bowlers as his scoring rate spiked from 139.25 to 160.17 setting the foundation for huge totals. His new-found aggression rubbed off on the Indian team as well, a fact shown by their achievements in the recent past.

Rohit Sharma in the ODI World Cup 2023

Hitman powered India to one of their best campaigns in World Cup history as the team won 10 consecutive matches before falling agonisingly short in the final. His blistering starts were the perfect recipe for what the Paltan were craving for.

It was oozing class as RO nonchalantly cut, pulled and slogged the bowlers to all corners of the park. Though Hitman had the chance to add to his solitary hundred on multiple occasions, he didn’t care about personal milestones.

Hitman was busy setting the tone as more than 75% of his total runs (597) in the ODI World Cup 2023 came from boundaries at an impressive strike rate of 125.94. Another ODI World Cup, another tally of 500-plus runs, but this stood out for the courage and the message it sent out.

RO at the T20 World Cup 2024

Hitman polished his guns yet again to take India to the pinnacle in the shortest format of the game. And boy oh boy! He realised his dream that he set sail for and also created memories of a lifetime for the faithful as India lifted that trophy at Barbados.

RO finished as India’s top run-getter in the tournament and also got those runs at a telling strike rate of 156.70. The mesmerising 92 off just 41 balls that sent the Aussies out of the competition was one for a lifetime. Even at eight runs short of the century, the Hitman had no second thoughts and his foot was right on the gas.

One name, Rohit Sharma, ‘The’ Rohit Sharma.