There is no way I'm stopping, says Rohit Sharma after stellar 2019

India’s white-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma scored a record 2442 runs as an opener across formats with 10 hundreds in the calendar year 2019

Published : Dec 23, 2019 11:42 IST , Cuttack

Rohit scored a crucial fifty in the West Indies series decider to help set up India's win.
Rohit scored a crucial fifty in the West Indies series decider to help set up India's win.
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Rohit scored a crucial fifty in the West Indies series decider to help set up India's win.

With his effortless batting, Rohit Sharma offers the cricket lovers a sit-back-and-enjoy show. In 2019, he performed plenty of such shows, especially in the 50-over format, to gather 1490 runs in 27 innings at an average of 57.30 and end up as the highest run-getter ahead of his captain Virat Kohli (1377).

“Personally I have enjoyed batting, but there is no way I am stopping,” said Rohit Sharma, the man-of-the-series in India’s 2-1 win over West Indies, at the post-match presentation at the Barabati Stadium here on Sunday night.

This demonstrates how Rohit relishes his moment in the middle. It helped him score seven hundreds and six fifties in the last 12 months. He closed the year with a 63-ball 63 and contributed significantly in India’s big run chase in the third and final ODI here.

In 2019, Rohit slammed 146 fours and 36 sixes, this year. Only Eoin Morgan has hit more (41) and Aaron Finch (36) with equal number of sixes. Nevertheless, they are far behind when it comes to number of fours.

Read: Kohli, Rohit end 2019 on top of ICC ODI rankings

“I understand my batting really well. I want to play within my limits, knowing the game plan you want to execute is very important,” said the 32-year-old, providing insight into his uncluttered mind and mature thinking.

In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, both K. L. Rahul and Rohit have become a formidable opening combination for India in the limited-overs. In just 10 innings this year, Rohit and Rahul have scored 923 runs, which includes five century stands, at an average of 92.30. In the process, both have successfully defied the popular theory of left-right combination.

Rohit and Rahul’s 227-run stand in Visakhapatnam has already established them as the best Indian opening association against the Windies. Their combined average is unmatched by a mile and the two promise to make rapid strides on the all-time list of successful opening partners.

Rohit, who went past Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya's 22-year-old record of scoring the most runs by an opener in international cricket during his knock here, wants to replicate his success in white-ball cricket in red-ball matches too.

He has already shown signs of it after being promoted as an opener in Tests and is eagerly looking forward to achieve bigger glory.

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