How Rohit Sharma led by example to inspire India’s World Cup charge

Indian middle-order superstar Virat Kohli is the tournament’s top-scorer going into the knockout stages, but fourth in that run-scorer list is his captain, who has arguably had an even bigger impact on India’s winning run to the semi-finals.

Rohit’s 503 runs have come at a strike rate of 121.49, setting the tone for India at the top of the order and consistently getting his team ahead of the game with the bat.

Here we take a look at his contributions throughout the group stage.

0 – vs Australia

Rohit’s tournament got off to an unspectacular start as he was trapped lbw for a duck in India’s opening game. The captain’s campaign only got better from there.

131 – vs Afghanistan

Rohit’s record-breaking century made history as he slammed 131 from just 84 balls against Afghanistan to hit form in spectacular style.

All the records Rohit Sharma broke during astonishing World Cup innings

The brilliance of the Indian captain's innings made a chase if 273 look like a cakewalk.

86 – vs Pakistan

Chasing just 192 to win against Pakistan, India’s captain put his foot down right at the start to break the back of the chase early on.

His 86 came off just 63 balls and featured six maximums, with his attacking approach not faltering despite the loss of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli inside the powerplay.

48 – vs Bangladesh

India’s captain again helped his team get off to a flyer in a run chase. The skipper smashed 48 from just 40 deliveries.

46 – vs New Zealand

Another aggressive start to a run chase eased the required rate pressure for the middle order.

Rohit’s 46 came from 40 balls and featured four sixes as he lit up the powerplay once more.

87 – vs England

The India captain produced a slightly different sort of innings on a tricky surface, earning the Player of the Match award for his efforts.

Rohit’s 87 from 101 balls helped India to a total that proved far out of England’s reach, and helped rescue his team after they slumped to 40/3 after 12 overs.

While not the most spectacular, this was probably the opener’s best knock of the group stage.

4 – vs Sri Lanka

A rare failure saw Rohit bowled off the second ball against Sri Lanka by Dilshan Madushanka.

40 – vs South Africa

In a real statement performance at the top of the order, Rohit raced to 40 off just 24 balls against the second-placed team in the group standings.

His brilliance got India off to a flier in the powerplay, and allowed Kohli and Shreyas Iyer to both score at much slower rates lower down the order and still set up a total well in excess of 300.

61 – vs Netherlands

The only surprise of Rohit’s 61 against Netherlands was that it came to an end. His excellent innings was formed from 54 deliveries, and he happily played second fiddle on this occasion as Shubman hit 51 from 32 at the other end.

Rohit and his India team return to action on Wednesday in Mumbai against New Zealand in the first semi-final - a repeat of the match-up that saw the Kiwis progress to the World Cup final four years ago.