Rohit Sharma breaks Virat Kohli's world record during 3rd T20I vs New Zealand

India’s new T20I skipper Rohit Sharma has performed exceptionally well in his first series as captain. He won all three tosses. Also, under Rohit’s captaincy, the Indian cricket team has already taken a 2-0 lead in the 3-match T20I series against the Blackcaps at home. 

The third T20I match of this India vs New Zealand series is currently underway at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Rohit Sharma called the coin toss right and elected to bat first. The Indian skipper elected to bowl first in the first two matches, but having won the series, India wanted to try a different challenge in T20Is. 

The vice-captain of the Indian T20I team KL Rahul skipped this match as the team management decided to rest him and included Ishan Kishan in the team. Even Ravichandran Ashwin has been rested for Yuzvendra Chahal. 

Kishan and Rohit opened the innings and provided a magnificent start to the Indian cricket team. The right-handed batter raced to his half-century. It was the 30th fifty plus score for Rohit. The two batters added a total of 69 runs in the powerplay, with Rohit playing the aggressor’s role. 

Rohit Sharma now has the highest number of 50+ scores in the shortest format of the game

As mentioned ahead, it was Rohit Sharma’s 30th 50+ score in T20Is for the Indian cricket team. This includes 26 half-centuries and four centuries. He has now moved ahead of Virat Kohli, who has 29 50+ scores in T20Is. Virat has not scored a T20I hundred, but he has scored 29 half-centuries. 

Courtesy of his half-century, India reached 184/7 in their 20 overs. New Zealand now require 185 runs to win. It will be interesting to see if the Men in Blue can complete a clean-sweep or the New Zealand cricket team avoids a whitewash.