The 37th match of the World Cup 2023 was played between India and South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. In this match, Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill gave a stormy start. Both of them made a partnership of 62 runs in 35 balls. With this partnership, Rohit and Shubman made a special record for India.
So far this year i.e. 2023, India has scored 2019 runs for the opening wicket in ODIs. Apart from the contribution of Rohit-Shubman, other batsmen including Ishan Kishan have also contributed to this. This is the highest number of runs scored by India for the opening wicket in a year. Earlier in 1998, India had scored 2002 runs for the opening wicket in ODI. Whereas in the year 2002, 1702 runs were scored.
Rohit-Shubman gave a stormy start against South Africa. India had completed 50 runs in just 4.3 overs. This is the record for the second-fastest completion of 50 runs by any team in this World Cup. Australia is ahead of India, who had completed 50 runs in 4.1 overs against New Zealand in Dharamsala. Rohit played an inning of 40 runs in 24 balls. In his innings, he hit six fours and two sixes. He was caught by Kagiso Rabada at the hands of Temba Bavuma.
Rabada made a record by dismissing Hitman
With this, Rabada has become the player to dismiss Rohit the most number of times in international cricket. He has dismissed Rohit 12 times combining all three formats. Tim Southee is in second place with 11 times. Whereas, Angelo Mathews is in third place with 10 times. Nathan Lyon has dismissed Rohit nine times and Trent Boult has dismissed Rohit eight times.
First Indian to score a century in the World Cup on Virat’s birthday
Virat, who did not score a single century in 2020 and 2021, completed his fifth century this year. This was Virat’s unbeaten inning of 101 runs in 121 balls, due to which India made a big score of 326 runs for five wickets against South Africa.
Virat became the first batsman in the country and the third in the world to score a century on his birthday in the World Cup. By scoring a century today, Kohli has become the seventh player to score a century on his birthday in ODI. Before him, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mitchell Marsh, Sachin Tendulkar, and Vinod Kambli have done this before. By scoring his 49th century, Virat equaled Sachin’s record of scoring the most centuries of 49.
Players who scored ODI 50+ on their birthday for India
-Sachin Tendulkar (134) vs Australia, Sharjah, 1998 (25th birthday)
-Vinod Kambli (100*) vs England, Jaipur, 1993 (21st birthday)
-Navjot Singh Sidhu (65*) vs West Indies, Mumbai, 1994 (31st birthday)
-Ishan Kishan (59) vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2021 (23rd Birthday)
-Yusuf Pathan (50) vs England, Indore, 2008 (26th birthday)
-Virat Kohli (101) vs South Africa, Kolkata, 2023 (35th Birthday)
