End of an era: Rohit signs off as India's most successful ODI captain

With the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel handing over the reins of the ODI team to Shubman Gill, the Rohit Sharma captaincy era has officially come to end. He had already retired from T20Is following the World Cup win in the Caribbean in 2024 and currently features only in the 50-over format. Here are the numbers from a glittering era for India with Rohit at the helm of affairs.

75% - India's win percentage under Rohit Sharma, having won 42 of the 56 matches his captaincy also included a tie and a no-result. Among those who captained in at least 50 ODIs, only Clive Lloyd for West Indies has a higher win % (76.2%). Rohit's 75% comfortably surpasses Virat Kohli's 68.4% and MS Dhoni's 55% to make him India's most successful ODI skipper.

Best win% as ODI captain (50+ matches)

88.8% - Rohit's success rate in multi-nation events (5+ teams). Under him India won Asia Cups in 2018 and 2023 as well as Champions Trophy 2025 while they agonisingly fell short of the final hurdle in the World Cup in 2023. In the 27 games he was in charge in these tournaments, he has won 24 and lost just two, giving him a win% of 88.8, the best among the 27 captains to have led in at least 20 games.

Best win% as in multi-nation ODI events (20+ matches)

2 - Players with the double of 50+ average and 100+ strike rate while leading in ODIs (minimum 50 innings batted). Among the 60 players who make the cut, only AB de Villiers (avg 63.94, SR 110.48) and Rohit (avg 52.20, SR 111.97) have managed the rare double.

Rohit has done remarkably better as captain rather than being off the ranks, averaging 47.85 and scoring at 88.42 just as a player. Only one player has a higher surge in strike rate as captain compared to while not being in charge (minimum 50 innings each) - Brendon McCullum who struck at 88.50 as a player and 120.11 as captain.

Rohit is also one of five players to average north of 50 while leading (minimum 50 innings), the others being Virat Kohli (72.65), AB de Villiers (63.94), MS Dhoni (53.55), and Kane Williamson (51.35).

Highest surge in SR while in charge

(Minimum 50 innings as captain and just as a player)

As a captain, Rohit's biggest imprint was quick runs than big scores, despite a higher batting average while leading. He crossed three figures once in 7.7 innings just a player but it was once in 11 innings while captaining. But his strike rates soared by 23.55 runs per hundred balls while in charge.

597 Runs scored by Rohit in World Cup 2023 - the second highest tally by a skipper in an ODI series or tournament. Only Greg Chappell's 686 runs in the Benson & Hedges tri-series in Australia in 1980/81 sits higher, while the next highest in a World Cup is Kane Williamson's 578 in 2019 edition.

1288 - Rohit's aggregate in multi-nation tournaments (5+ teams) - the sixth highest for a skipper. Among the 21 captains to have batted at least 20 times in these tournaments, only Sourav Ganguly (61.42) averages higher than Rohit's 56 and he is the only one to score at better than a run a ball (109.80).

1255 - Rohit's tally in ODIs in 2023 at a strike rate of 117.07. There are only two other instances of a captain scoring 750+ runs in a calendar year at a higher strike rate - Brendon McCullum (764 runs at 152.49) and AB de Villiers (1194 runs at 137.91), both in 2015.

2 - Rohit is one of the two player to score an ODI double century while leading the team, the other being Virender Sehwag who hit 219 against West Indies in Indore in 2011. Rohit's unbeaten 208 against Sri Lanka in Mohali in 2017 came in just his second match in charge.

10 - Consecutive matches won by India in World Cup 2023 under Rohit. Only two captains have had a longer winning run in World Cups - Ricky Ponting (24 between 2003 & 2011) and MS Dhoni (11 between 2011 & 2015).

Rohit is also the most successful skipper in Asia Cup ODIs, winning nine of the 11 matches he was in charge, joint most with MS Dhoni (in 14 games) and Arjuna Ranatunga (in 13 games). Under him, India won both the Asia Cup ODI events - in 2018 and in 2023.