Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma has achieved a major feat after he took the field for the Men in Blue against South Africa in the final T20 international match against South Africa at the MA Chinnaswamy stadium.
The 33-year-old cricketer, who is also the vice-captain of India in the shorter formats of the game, matched the record of former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni of playing the most number of T20 internationals donning the colours of India.
Both the cricketers have played 98 T20 internationals and are well ahead of Suresh Raina, who is on 78 and also Virat Kohli who has played 72 T20 internationals.
The Indian opener, who is the second-highest run-getter in the shortest format of the game, did not have a good outing against South Africa this time around as he fell cheaply for just nine runs to Beuran Hendricks.
The opener also did not score much in the first T20 fixture against the Proteas as he scored only 12 runs. The 32-year-old was expected to score big runs in the series as he was in prolific form in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and also the recently concluded West Indies tour but he could not live up to the hopes.
The Men in Blue won the toss and decided to bat first in the deciding T20 fixture on September 22 in Bangalore. But the batting collapsed after a good start and the team could not put up a defendable total on the scoreboard as they were restricted to 134 runs for the loss of nine wickets at the end of 20 overs.
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was the highest run-scorer for the Men in Blue as he played an innings of 36 runs from 25 balls which included four boundaries and two sixes.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who played a match-winning innings in the second T20, could not score much as he got out for just nine runs to a Kagiso Rabada delivery. Rabada was the pick among the bowlers as he scalped three wickets giving away 39 runs of the four overs he bowled.
In reply, the Proteas chased down the target with three overs in hand for the loss of a single wicket. Newly-appointed skipper Quinton de Kock was the star for the Proteas and was also adjudged the Man of the Series as he contributed with a match-winning knock of 79 runs from 52 balls.
The Men in Blue will next face South Africa in a three-match Test series which is slated to start on October 2 in Visakhapatnam.
