New Delhi:
Coming into the third and final ODI against the West Indies here, Rohit was only nine short of eclipsing the former Sri Lankan swashbuckler, who tallied 2387 runs in 1997. When the Mumbaikar got out for a run-a-ball 63 at the Barabati Stadium, Rohit aggregated 2442 runs. The batsman scored 10 hundreds across formats and as many half centuries in the year, averaging 53.08 in 47 innings. Rohit went past the former Sri Lanka captain's record when he took a single off a Sheldon Cottrell delivery. Among the other notable openers, who had good seasons are Virender Sehwag (2355 runs) in 2008 and Matthew Hayden (2349 runs) in 2003.
Rohit ended the year as the No.1 batsman in ODIs, finishing with 1490 runs in 28 games at an average of 57 with seven centuries. Kohli was not far behind and he ended with 1377 runs at an average of 59 in 26 games with five centuries. Rohit started the year with a bang with a magnificent 133 against Australia in Sydney but in the World Cup, he had a record-breaking tournament as he smashed five centuries and ended the tournament with 648 runs at an average of over 80.
This included a streak of three consecutive tons against England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka while his highest individual score came in the crunch clash against Pakistan in Old Trafford where he managed 140. He ended the year with yet another 150+ score as he smashed 159 in the Vizag ODI.
Kohli dominated the other two formats, namely Twenty20 Internationals and Tests. While Rohit managed 556 runs in five Tests at an average of 92, Kohli smashed 612 runs at an average of 58 with a highest individual score of 254 against South Africa in Pune. Rohit, on the other hand, hit a double ton in Ranchi and a 176 in Vizag. Apart from the 254, Kohli hit 136 in the historic Pink Ball Test. In Twenty20 Internationals, Kohli hit 466 runs while Rohit had 396 runs.
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Kohli ended the year with 2455 runs across all formats while Rohit finished slightly behind with 2442 runs. In terms of average, Kohli dominated Rohit. Kohli averaged 64 while Rohit averaged 53.
