Year in Review: Top 5 ODI performances of the year 2013

1. Rohit Sharma – 209 (India vs Australia, Bengaluru, November 2013)

Rohit Sharma – Destiny’s child

Former South African batting great Barry Richards had once voiced his concerns about how bowling was fast losing its relevance in the 50-over arena. His reasoning was justified after the carnage that was witnessed by all in Bengaluru on a chilly November day, though it can be said that the bowlers on either side were too flummoxed to respond adequately to the assault launched.

When you have an opening batsman wielding a willow marked TON, you, in excitement, assume that he will score a century.

Rohit Sharma, long reviled by critics for his inconsistency and temperament, did one better – he achieved what only two other batting legends have attained in recent times: a double hundred in ODI cricket. And not only was it a brutal innings, but also a refined one. Polished aggression – a new phrase in the dictionary of the current crop of Indian cricketers – seems to have worked wonders for the Mumbai lad.

Initially, though, Sharma was on the hit list of the spectators – he had run out Virat Kohli, the man in red-hot form – and nothing in his game suggested that he would go on to bigger and better things. With Australia’s chief weapon Mitchell Johnson sent home to prepare for the Ashes and all-rounder Shane Watson struck down by injury, Rohit seized his chance and went hammer and tongs on the rest of the bowling. Glenn Maxwell’s part-time spin yielded rich dividends for the Men in Blue, while Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay and James Faulkner also came under relentless hitting.

Such was his display of power that even MS Dhoni’s unorthodox stroke-play later in the innings was put to shade. Rohit finally fell for 209 – going past the legendary Sachin Tendulkar but within striking distance of Virender Sehwag – as India amassed a massive total. If not for Faulkner’s heroics down the order and a Watson-Maxwell blitz during the middle overs, Australia would have headed home in shame. But India were not to be denied, and the mountain of runs Sharma had piled up was eventually too steep to climb.

In terms of sheer entertainment, substance and style, this one belongs right at the top!