On 13th November 2014, the cricketing fraternity was treated with another Rohit Sharma masterclass at Eden Gardens, Kolkata as the star batter registered the highest individual score in ODI history. Rohit played a breathtaking innings of 264 (173) smashing 33 fours and nine sixes in his innings.
Having taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. The Men in blue lost two wickets early with 59 runs on the board after 13 overs but Kohli and Rohit got involved in a massive 202-run stand for the third wicket to bring India into ascendancy.
However, just when everything looked right for team India, Kohli and Rohit got involved in a terrible miscommunication which led to the former being dismissed for 66 (64). Following Kohli’s dismissal, Rohit unleashed his beast mode on Sri Lanka smashing them to all corners of the ground.
After completing his hundred at run-a-ball, he scored his next fifty off just 25 balls. He further took another 26 balls to complete his second double hundred in ODI cricket reaching the landmark in 151 balls. The opening batter was even given reprieves by the Sri Lankan fielders who dropped him several times during his innings and they were left ruing their chances seeing Rohit at his imperious best.
Rohit fell just five runs short of surpassing the then-highest List A score (268) as he got caught at long off on the last ball of the innings on 264. Courtesy of his innings, India posted a mammoth total of 404/5 in their allotted 50 overs and went on to win the match by 153 runs.
Rohit was deservedly awarded Player of the Match for his record-breaking knock. Coincidentally, it was the second consecutive time that Rohit had scored a double hundred after getting Kohli run out. Furthermore, it was just the fourth double hundred in ODIs and all four of them had been scored by an Indian and three out of four occasions the winning margin was of 153 runs.
