Published 15:07 IST, October 20th 2019
Rohit hits maiden double ton with six; finds place in Elite Test Club
Rohit became the fourth batsman in history to score a double hundred in both Test and ODI cricket after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag & Chris Gayle
Its a "form" of a lifetime -- a rare "purple patch" with a display of yet another well crafted and beautifully painted "dream innings" -- by once a "Test discard" now the most "expressive" opening batsman in the world. When Rohit Sharma scored his maiden double century in Test with a towering six against South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday, the entire Indian dressing room rose, claps with deep applause followed, as they had witnessed something "special", something "brilliant."
Rohit became the fourth batsman in history to score a double hundred in both Test and ODI cricket after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle. Rohit also broke the world record for the most number of sixes hit in a Test series.
On Saturday, India's batting coach Vikram Rathour had said: "Rohit has settled the issue of opening for the time being with the number of runs he has scored. Opening the batting with him was the right decision. If someone of his stature starts coming good at the top of the order, that changes everything for the team. He is such an experienced player; I don't think you need to tinker with his technique. He just had to make some mental adjustments. He is too good a player to not play all formats."
Rohit got to his double hundred in 249 balls, having hit 28 boundaries and 4 sixes and become the first batsman to score a 200-plus score in Tests after scoring double hundreds in ODI cricket. He also became the 5th Indian opener after Vinoo Mankad, Budhi Kunderan, Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag to score 500 runs in a Test series and 3rd Indian batsman after Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli to score a double hundred in the ongoing series against South Africa.
Updated 15:19 IST, October 20th 2019