Rohit Sharma delivered another dominant performance in the final ODI against South Africa, maintaining his impressive return to international cricket. He batted fluently for 75 as India easily chased down 271 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal finished his tough patch with a superb 116, while Virat Kohli added an unbeaten 65 to complete a nine-wicket win.
During the match, Rohit achieved a historic milestone. He strengthened his status as the game’s best pull-shot hitter. In ODIs with complete ball-by-ball data, he now has 114 sixes from pull shots. This is well ahead of Chris Gayle’s 48. No other player has been close. Rohit also leads the all-time ODI six-hitting chart with 354 sixes, beating Shahid Afridi. Across formats, he is the only cricketer to have crossed 600 international sixes.
His 75-run effort also pushed him above 20,000 international runs. He joined an elite Indian group that includes Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid.
India now has a long break until the ODI series against New Zealand, which begins on January 11. Rohit and Kohli will avoid international cricket till then, but will compete in domestic tournaments, including the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
