India captain Rohit Sharma shattered a 73-year-old record in Rajkot on Thursday, February 15. Rohit became the oldest India captain to smash an international hundred when he achieved the feat on Day 1 of their third Test against England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
Rohit broke Vijay Hazare’s record, set way back in 1951, to become the oldest India captain to score an international hundred. Rohit went past the three-figure mark in the first over of the third session on Day 1 in Rajkot.
Oldest India captain to hit international hundreds
Rohit Sharma vs England, 2024: 36y 291d
Vijay Hazare vs England, 1951: 36y 278d
Rohit smashed his 11th Test century against England to settle India’s innings after the hosts lost three early wickets in Rajkot. England express pacer Mark Wood got the visitors off to a dream start removing opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill in quick succession before spinner Tom Hartley sent Rajat Patidar back to leave India reeling at 33 for 3 in 8.5 overs.
Rajkot Test, Day 1 Scorecard
However, Rohit along with local lad Ravindra Jadeja, turned the tide with a gritty 201-run partnership. The two batters piled the pressure on England with Rohit scoring his 11th Test hundred, while Jadeja smashed his 21st Test half-century.
Rohit was eventually dismissed by Wood after scoring 131 runs off 196 balls, hitting 14 boundaries and three sixes.
A RECORD-BREAKING DAY FOR ‘THE HITMAN’
Apart from breaking Hazare’s 73-year-old record, Rohit went past Ben Stokes and Usman Khawaja in terms of centuries scored in the World Test Championships. Rohit (8) is only behind Joe Root (12), Marnus Labuschange (9), Steve Smith (8) and Kane Williamson (8) in terms of centuries scored in WTC.
Rohit went past former India skipper MS Dhoni’s tally (78) for most sixes in Tests by an Indian. Rohit has now smashed 80 sixes in 90 Test matches for India and sits only behind former opener Virender Sehwag (90) in terms of sixes hit for India in Tests.
Rohit also went level with the legendary Kapil Dev in terms of centuries scored as an India captain in the longest format of the game.
Rohit now has three Test centuries as India captain, and sits in ninth place in this metric. He is behind Virat Kohli (20), Sunil Gavaskar (11), Mohammad Azharuddin (9), Sachin Tendulkar (7), MS Dhoni (5), Sourav Ganguly (5), MAK Pataudi (5), Rahul Dravid (4).
Rohit, who is already India’s fourth-highest all-time run-scorer across all formats of the game, is edging closer to the 4000-run mark in Tests and will be hoping to breach the milestone in the ongoing series against England.
