MS Dhoni will not be a part of the Indian cricket team for the last two ODI matches against Australia as the team management decided to rest the veteran after the hosts were defeated in Ranchi by 32 runs on Friday.

While Dhoni’s absence is a huge opportunity for young wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant to prove his mettle, it also provides opener Rohit Sharma with an opportunity to claim an impressive record in ODI cricket.

Rohit is just two sixes away from surpassing Dhoni in the list of most ODI sixes hit by an India cricketer. At this moment, Dhoni has 217 sixes to his name while Rohit has 216 sixes to his name while playing for India.

In the list, next is Sachin Tendulkar with 195 maximums to his name, while former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has 189 sixes under his belt. Man of the Tournament in 2011 World Cup – Yuvraj Singh – has 153 ODI sixes.

Rohit, who has enjoyed a good run of form in the ongoing ODI series till now, is just 52 runs away from completing 3000 ODI runs in India. He will be the 9th Indian to this landmark after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin and Virender Sehwag.

Rohit started the series well with a patient 37 in the first game in Hyderabad but two back-to-back flops in Nagpur and Ranchi means that the Mumbai Indians skipper is under quite a lot of pressure at the moment.

First Published: Mar 09, 2019 21:05 IST