India skipper Rohit Sharma made a fantastic return to international cricket after over three months as he led the team to a comprehensive win over England on Thursday, July 7 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. The visitors bowled England put for 148 runs, defending 198 in the first of the three T20I series. With this win, Rohit Sharma achieved a historic feat as the captain in the shortest format.
The Indian captain became the first to lead his team to 13 consecutive T20I wins. He took over as India’s full-time skipper in T20Is after Virat Kohli stepped down from the post following the ICC T20 World Cup last year. Since then, Rohit Sharma has led India against Bangladesh, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and England. He is yet to lose a T20I match, since taking over as a full-time Indian skipper.
🚨 Milestone Alert 🚨
First captain to win 1⃣3⃣ successive T20Is – Congratulations, @ImRo45. 👏 👏#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/izEGfIfFTn
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 7, 2022
Rohit Sharma also surpassed Virat Kohli to become the second-fastest to reach 1000 runs in T20I as a captain. He reached 1000 runs on Thursday in the first T20I match. Kohli had scored 1000 runs as captain in 30 innings, while Rohit Sharma took 29 innings. The record lies with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam who achieved the feat in 24 innings.
India leads the three-match T20I series 1-0 against England
The Indian team is leading the three-match T20 series against England 1-0 after securing a 50 runs win in the first T20I. Batting first, India put on 198 runs on the board, on the back of Hardik Pandya’s fifty. Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav also chipped in with valuable 30s in the innings.
The Indian all-rounder, Hardik Pandya also shined with the ball in the second innings. He took 4/33 in his four overs to bowl England out for 148 runs. Hardik was awarded the Player of the Match for his all-rounder brilliance in the game.
The second T20I between India and England will take place on Saturday, July 9 at the Edgbaston in Birmingham.
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