Rohit Sharma will make his return to international cricket after seven months, with a historic landmark attached to his name when he takes the field for India against world champions Australia during the first ODI at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday.
The 38-year-old Rohit will be slated to feature in his 500th international match across formats, 18 years since his first appearance for the Men in Blue in an ODI in Ireland in June 2007.
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Rohit will only be the 11th man in history to appear in 500 international matches and the fifth Indian to achieve the feat after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (664), Virat Kohli (550), MS Dhoni (538), and Rahul Dravid (509). Rohit will be the second-oldest man from the club to reach the 500-match mark at 38 years and 171 days, behind Dravid (38y 241d).
In his 499 career matches to date, Rohit has notched up 49 centuries and 108 fifties, contributing to a total of 19,700 runs at an average of 42.18. His remarkable top score remains 264.
Second-longest ODI career
Rohit would have completed over 18 years in ODI cricket when he makes the playing XI today for the first time under Shubman Gill’s captaincy, making it the second-longest men’s one-day career among all Indians, only behind Tendulkar, who tops the charts with a career span of 22 years and 91 days.
Rohit is also on the cusp of breaking several other records in Australia, where he remains India’s highest run-getter against the hosts in all ODI cricket. The Mumbaikar is only 10 runs away from becoming the fifth visiting batter to record 1000 ODI runs against the Aussies Down Under, with his four centuries ranked the highest among all of them.
Rohit also requires only eight sixes to break Shahid Afridi’s record for the most maximums in ODI cricket and concurrently become the highest six-hitter in all formats. The Hitman is also only 300 runs short of becoming the fourth Indian after Tendulkar, Kohli and Dravid to complete 20,000 international runs.
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Most International matches
| Player | Span | Mat | Runs | Ave | 100 | Wkts | Ct | St |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 1989-2013 | 664 | 34357 | 48.52 | 100 | 201 | 256 | 0 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 1997-2015 | 652 | 25957 | 39.15 | 54 | 14 | 440 | 0 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 2000-2015 | 594 | 28016 | 46.77 | 63 | 0 | 609 | 139 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 1989-2011 | 586 | 21032 | 34.14 | 42 | 440 | 205 | 0 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 1995-2012 | 560 | 27483 | 45.95 | 71 | 8 | 364 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 2008-2025 | 550 | 27599 | 52.27 | 82 | 9 | 336 | 0 |
| MS Dhoni (IND) | 2004-2019 | 538 | 17266 | 44.96 | 16 | 1 | 634 | 195 |
| Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 1996-2018 | 524 | 11196 | 23.92 | 11 | 541 | 167 | 0 |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 1995-2014 | 519 | 25534 | 49.1 | 62 | 577 | 338 | 0 |
| Rahul Dravid (IND) | 1996-2012 | 509 | 24208 | 45.41 | 48 | 5 | 406 | 14 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 2007-2025 | 500* | 19700 | 42.18 | 49 | 12 | 230 | 0 |
