- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma is set to become a part of history as he will lead the country in its 1,000th one-day international in Ahmedabad on Sunday (6) against the West Indies.
The Men in Blue, who played their first one-day international game in 1974, will be the first cricketing nation in the world to play these many matches in the format. They have won 518 matches out of 999, lost 431, tied nine while on 41 occasions, there was no result. Australia are second in the list with 958 games, having won 581 and losing 334.
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The match will be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s biggest cricket stadium where international matches started last year following the renovation of what was earlier called Sardar Patel Stadium.
India-West Indies one-day series behind closed doors
All three games of the one-day international series will be played on the same ground and behind closed doors due to the ongoing pandemic.
Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly said it was a big moment for Indian cricket but rued that the match will be played without any spectator.
“I was the captain of India in the 500th ODI,” Ganguly told Indian magazine Sportstar, recalling a game against England in Chester-le-Street in 2002.
“It is a big moment for Indian cricket, but unfortunately, the match will be played without a crowd,” he added.
The game at Chester-le-Street was abandoned due to rain after Sachin Tendulkar slammed a hundred.
India’s first-ever one-day international in July 1974 was also against England in England (Leeds) and on that occasion, Ajit Wadekar was the skipper.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has led India the most number of times in one-day internationals – 200, followed by Mohammed Azharuddin (174) and Ganguly (146). Virat Kohli, who was the captain before Sharma took over, led in 95 matches. Sharma has been a stand-in skipper so far and has led on 10 occasions.
India have also been hit by the virus ahead of the series with Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad testing positive and kept in isolation.
Mayank Agarwal has been added to the squad and will be Sharma’s opening partner while vice-captain KL Rahul could also be another option.
Sharma, 34, missed India’s recent tour of South Africa where they lost the Test series 1-2 and one-day series 0-3. He will also lead India in the T20 international series against the Caribbeans in Kolkata after the one-day matches and is likely to be named the Test captain as well after Virat Kohli stepped down after the South Africa series.
Indian broadcasters have been promoting the series with a song on Sharma’s comeback to boost the hosts, and the star batter acknowledged the compliment.
“Humbled by the lovely rap @StarSportsIndia Looking forward to be back on the field and take inspiration from the fans’ continued support as India takes on West Indies,” he wrote on Twitter.
The West Indies will be led in both the white-ball series by Kieron Pollard, Sharma’s colleague in the Mumbai Indians team in the Indian Premier League.
