Revisiting Rohit Sharma's historic 264-run knock vs Sri Lanka

Rohit Sharma (Pic: File Pic)

It all began as India were leading the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. On November 13, 2014, the then Team India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first in the fourth ODI against their distant rivals.

With the series already in the bag, Rohit Sharma opened the innings with Ajinkya Rahane. The duo delivered a strong start to the Indian team despite Lanka having the likes of Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera and others.

With Rahane smashing boundaries all around the ground, he misjudged a delivery from Mathews and got hit on the pads. The right-hander's innings ended with a score of 28 runs in 24 balls, including six boundaries. Later, India lost another quick wicket of Ambati Rayudu on just eight runs.

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Before Rahane's wicket, Rohit was dropped on just four runs, but who knew that his dropped catch would turn out to be a nightmare for the Lankan bowlers. The veteran was later joined by skipper Kohli.

The two Indian stalwarts lived up to the expectations as Kohli played a knock of 66 runs and Rohit went on to smash a record-breaking double ton.

The Eden Gardens witnessed a batting masterclass from two different players. Kohli, a technically sound batsman who believes in finding gaps instead of blind slogging was accompanied by Rohit, who is known to punish a bad delivery coming his way.

With Rohit expressing himself freely on the Eden's pitch, he turned the Lankan bowlers into spectators. Other than fours, the right-hander received a label of 'Hitman' following his display of humongous sixes.

With Kohli well-settled in the middle, Rohit made sure to keep the scoreboard moving. With the bat raised up and an approach full of aggression, Rohit took 151 deliveries to reach the celebrated three figures (201) in style.

Wasting no time, unsatisfied Rohit took less than 30 balls to complete 264 runs. With his impressive strokes, he continued to clear the boundary rope and scripted his name for one of the most iconic knocks ever played in the history of the format.

His knock ended with a score of 264 runs off 173 balls, which was laced with 33 boundaries and nine maximums.