India vs West Indies 3rd ODI: Rohit Sharma one six away from surpassing MS Dhoni’s BIG record

Team India ODI captain Rohit Sharma is eyeing a series whitewash against West Indies when they two sides face off in the third and final ODI at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday (February 11). India hold 2-0 series lead after winning the second ODI on Wednesday (February 9).

Opener Rohit also is eyeing a special landmark of his own as he gets ready to bat in the third ODI. This will be India’s first series sweep since 2017 if skipper Rohit manages to achieve this feet after 2017, when Virat Kohli led the team to a 5-0 win over Sri Lanka.

India have managed a total of 11 clean sweeps in their ODI history with the legendary Kapil Dev first captain from the country do achieve the milestone. Along with MS Dhoni, Kapil is the only captain to have led India in three ODI clean sweeps.

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Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have led India to an ODI series clean sweep and Rohit can become the eighth skipper from his team to do so. Pakistan and South Africa lead the list of most ODI clean sweeps having done so 20 times each.

If opener Rohit hits a six today, he will surpass former India captain and current Chennai Super Kings skipper Dhoni in the list of most sixes by a batter in ODIs in India.  Currently, both are level on 116 sixes in India (in ODIs).

However, Dhoni took 113 innings to hit those while Rohit equalised the former India captain in just 68 innings.

Ruturaj Gaikwad recovers, out of COVID-19 isolation

India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had tested positive for COVID-19, has recovered and is out out of isolation. However, with skipper Rohit Sharma already making it clear that senior opener Shikhar Dhawan will open the innings in the third ODI against West Indies here on Friday, the Maharashtra player is unlikely to be considered for the inconsequential match.

Ruturaj warmed the bench in the home T20 series against New Zealand and also did not get an opportunity to play against South Africa in the away ODI series. He was found to be COVID positive just four days before the start of the West Indies series, practically ruling him out of the rubber.

Ruturaj hasn’t been included in the T20 squad and, in all likelihood, will now turn out for his home state in the upcoming Ranji Trophy.

On February 2, a COVID-19 outbreak had hit the Indian cricket team as three players – Dhawan, reserve opener Gaikwad and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer – tested positive for the virus during their mandatory isolation period before the start of West Indies series.

Four other persons, including net bowler Navdeep Saini, had also tested positive for COVID-19. Saini was on the standby list.

(with PTI inputs)