As the Indian cricket team faces South Africa in their second ODI, captain Rohit Sharma is poised to achieve a significant personal milestone in international cricket. After registering a fluent half-century in the first match, Sharma is just 41 runs shy of the coveted 20,000 international runs mark. This achievement would place him among an exclusive list of Indian cricketers, being the fourth to reach this figure and the fourteenth globally. His current tally stands at 19,959 runs from 503 international matches, underscoring his remarkable longevity and consistent performance.
Sharma’s immediate goal also includes surpassing the legendary AB de Villiers, who has 20,014 international runs. A score of 56 in the upcoming fixture would elevate Sharma past the former Proteas batsman. Beyond this, Sharma is inching closer to significant milestones on home soil. He has scored 4,924 runs in ODIs played in India and 8,991 total international runs within the country. Reaching 76 more runs in ODIs at home or 9 more international runs in India will mark these achievements. He is also in line to overtake Rahul Dravid’s 9,004 international runs scored in India, requiring a modest 14 runs.