As India and Australia meet in a battle of old foes, Rohit Sharma remains a consistent force

Sharma is positioned among that upper echelon of world-beaters, but should he not be higher among them? Nobody has more double-hundreds in ODI cricket

Let’s talk about Rohit Sharma.

Why? Well, why not? Why not talk about the man with the highest one-day international score of all time? Why not talk about the man with three of the game’s top ten individual totals in the history of ODI cricket?

Twice, Sri Lanka have been the victims – once in 2014 and then in 2017. Hark back six years, however, to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, and you will find the third: a battering dished out to an Australian attack featuring Clint McKay, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner and Xavier Doherty.

On the one hand, how times have changed – a fairly different attack will welcome Sharma on Sunday: puppies replaced by greyhounds, if you will. A nasty group of tearaways, preying on weakness. Mitchell Starc, a crusher of toes, looks fit and firing at the start of a huge summer.

Then there's Pat Cummins – a Rolls Royce, perfection personified; from the protruding cheekbones to his impeccable action and his ever-improving batting.

At the same time, there remains a constant from that November day in 2013. Rohit. It would be to understate his appreciation to suggest that he flies under the radar; quite simply, if you play with Virat Kohli – and, indeed, with MS Dhoni – you are third best.

Yet, there remains a perennial overlooking of his talents. Yes, he is positioned among that upper echelon of world-beaters, but should he not be higher among them? Nobody has more double-hundreds in ODI cricket and, I’d suggest, few others possess such a range of tempos.

^{Sharma hit an unbeaten 122 as India beat South Africa in their first match.}

Of those with the ability to blast their way to 200 – Martin Guptill, Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, Fakhar Zaman, for example, how many would – or could – have played Sharma’s match-winning part against South Africa.

As ODI scores have grown, so too has such an effort seeped slowly out of the game. It was anything but chanceless – Kagiso Rabada troubled him as is the entitlement of the world’s premier fast bowler. But it was gutsy.

He took blows, the shoulder of his bat spent the opening overs almost permanently rattled, edges flew wide or dropped short. Rabada’s hands were stitched to his hips – an expression of frustration that referenced the quality of a spell and the importance of an opponent.

But despite all of that, it feels like that hundred has – a couple of days on – been lost somewhat to the annals.

The narrative has, inevitably, been replaced with talk of South Africa’s failures, of the hole in David Miller’s buckets, of Dhoni’s gloves; of Bumrah’s brilliance.

All are fair. All can claim to relative levels of importance. But none were as match-defining as Sharma’s gritty vigil.

He finished unbeaten on 122, facing 144 deliveries on the process. Nobody else in the match managed more than Chris Morris’ bludgeoning 42.

It was a game featuring Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Hasim Amla, Quinton de Kock and others. And there Sharma was, giving out free tuition on how to chase down an awkward total on a troublesome pitch against the world’s best fast bowler.

What a player he is. In amongst this talent-filled tournament, let’s not forget that.

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