If Sachin Tendulkar smashed the glass barrier for men’s ODI scores when he became the first player to reach a double century in the format, Rohit Sharma demolished what was left by crossing the mark three times. Of the three double century hit by the opening batsman, his 264 off 173 balls against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens on November 11th became a milestone for ODI scores. With a finger injury incurred in August of that year, Rohit had not played any international cricket for three months prior to the innings.
There was debate over whether Rohit should be re-inducted into the squad or if Ajinkya Rahane and Robin Uthappa should open the innings instead. Rohit ended up opening the innings alongside Rahane and got off to a poor start. When Thisara Perera dropped him while he was still on 4 runs off 16 deliveries, he was granted a lifeline. Within the first 13 overs, India lost Rahane and Ambati Rayudu before Rohit and Virat Kohli stitched a 201-run stand off just 154 balls to take the wind out of the Sri Lankans’ sails.
Rohit got his century in 100 balls, but then he went insane. He hit 150 with 125 balls, 200 with 151, and 250 with 166. While Kohli and Rohit shared the third-wicket partnership for much of the innings, Rohit took the lead once he reached three figures. In the stand, Uthappa only managed to score a run-a-ball 16 runs. Rohit was dismissed on the penultimate ball of the over, guiding India to a 404/5 total and a 153-run victory. Martin Guptill of New Zealand had previously set the ODI record with an unbeaten 237 against the West Indies in Wellington. In 2019, Rohit would go on to achieve another double century, this time against Sri Lanka.