Rohit Sharma the opener

These are those who have made centuries in both innings as an opener:

The only other Indian player here is Gavaskar (on 3 occasions). Others with multiple appearances are Warner (3) and Hayden and Sutcliffe with 2. Some well-known openers such as Graeme Smith, Fredericks, Boycott and Hutton did not achieve this mark.

No one achieved this feat on his Test debut, as Rohit became an opener after playing several Tests in the middle order. Wasti did so in his second Test, although he had opened in the second innings of his debut.

We also look at those who scored 300 runs in a match while opening. These are in order of runs scored. Some made their 300 in one innings:

Rohit is 19th on this list and 4th for India, with Gavaskar leading and followed by two instances by Sehwag. Others with two instances are Hayden and Gayle.

While LG Rowe scored 214 and 100* on debut, he was not an opener in that match. He later scored 302 as an opener.

Another curiosity is Sutcliffe and Rohit having the same combination of 176 and 127.

Here we look at those who scored centuries as opener for India. This is up to Nov 01, 2019:

Note that Rohit and Mayank Agarwal are side by side. Since Nov 1, the latter has moved ahead of Rohit as he now has 3 centuries AND three fifties.

Interestingly, Gavaskar and Sehwag have almost the same batting average.

Finally, we look at batting averages for all openers with 20+ innings and average of 45.00 and above. This is up to Nov 01, 2019 and does not include the ICC XI Test of 2005:

We see a rather close bunching just above an average of 50.00, with Gavaskar, Hayden, Sehwag, WA Brown and EAB Rowan.

 

 

Rohit Sharma’s twin centuries

Rohit Sharma’s 176 and 127 marks the 86th occasion of two centuries in an innings in all Tests. He is the 70th batsman to achieve this, as several have done so on 2 or 3 occasions.

Among Indian players we have him as the 6th player on the 9th occasion:

Among those who opened in both innings, he is the 24th to do so on the 30th occasion.

He became the first to  score a century in both innings while opening for the first time.

We know that the only two to score centuries in both innings on debut are Lawrence Rowe and Yasir Hameed. They both batted at No 3.

CG Greenidge had a near miss with 93 and 107 on debut vs Ind at Bengaluru on 22/11/1974 where he opened. Similarly for AJ Strauss with 112 and 83 on debut vs NZ at Lord’s on 20/05/2004. Then there was Wajahatullah Wasti who scored 133 and 121* while opening in his second Test, though he had opened in the second innings of his debut Test.

Rohit Sharma had scored 177 on debut vs WI at Kolkata on 06/11/2013 and 111* in his next innings in his 2nd Test. He batted at No 6 in those innings.

He scored 13 sixes in this match (6 +7). This is a record in all Tests, surpassing the record set by Wasim Akram.

The previous record for India was 8 by NS Sidhu in his 124 vs SL at Lucknow on 18/01/1994.

Finally, this was the 58th instance of  scoring over 300 in a Test match. The 8 Indians who have achieved this on 9 occasions are: