Rohit Sharma jumps past MS Dhoni with win in series opener
Team India celebrates a wicket in first T20I
Rohit Sharma’s drawcards steamrolled the visiting South Africans in the first T20I. The win granted the ‘Men in Blue’ a 1-0 lead in their three-match series, and also marked a significant milestone in captain Sharma’s career.
While Rohit Sharma led Team India in doses back in 2018, the cricketer was appointed as full-time T20I skipper following Virat Kohli’s resignation after the T20 World Cup 2021.
In 2022, the cricketer led the team to easy series wins over West Indies and Sri Lanka at home. In June, he led the ‘Men in Blue’ in a drawn five-match competition against South Africa and an emphatic win in England a month later. Prior to the ongoing series against Proteas at home, he also took charge to defeat Australia 2-1 in a three-match rubber.
The dynamic opening batter has now registered 16 wins as India captain in T20Is this year. He went past his former teammate MS Dhoni for the national record, who led the team to 15 victories back in 2016.
Notably, Dhoni won the Asia Cup in 2016 and took India to semi-finals in the subsequent T20 World Cup at home that year.
While Sharma’s side failed to lift the 2022 Asia Cup in UAE, he will be looking to go a step further than Dhoni’s 2016 feat by winning next month’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
The ongoing series against South Africa marks India’s final set of fixtures before departing for the big event ‘Down Under’.
 "Aakash Saini")
