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Rohit Sharma, born on April 30th, 1987, is a right-hand opening batsman and the vice-captain of the Indian International team. He is also the captain of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL and represents Mumbai in domestic cricket as well. Apart from Cricket, Rohit is also part of animal welfare campaigns.
His favorite cricketers are Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh and his favorite shot is the Pull shot. His hobbies are traveling, watching movies, playing table tennis and video games and his favorite destination is New York.
Considered one of the most dangerous and consistent batsmen in the world, Rohit Sharma has the highest score in ODI history of 264* against Sri Lanka.
He is also the only Cricketer with three double centuries in One day cricket and one of them is a 250+ score. He is nicknamed “Hitman” due to his flamboyant, attacking, and charismatic batting style. He is also one of the few cricketers with a century in all formats of the game and has the highest number of centuries in a single World cup (5) in the 2019 World Cup. He also has the maximum number of sixes in an ODI inning with 16. He has been part of 5 IPL winning teams (1 with Hyderabad and 4 with Mumbai) and has captained the Mumbai Indians to 4 of their 5 titles.
His lazy elegance and effortless Strokeplay make him the batsman that’s most pleasing to the eye as he combines artistry with brutality in equal measure.
He is ranked number 3 in the ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen and is already considered by many experts and fans as one of the greatest white-ball batsmen of all time. He remains a key figure for India in the upcoming T20 and ODI world cups.
Family
Rohit Sharma’s mother, Purnima Sharma hails from Vishakhapatnam and his father, Gurunath Sharma, worked as a caretaker of a transport firm storehouse.
Due to his father’s financial difficulties and low income, Rohit was predominantly raised by his grandparents in Borivali and would visit his parents only on weekends as they stayed in a single-room house at Dombivili. Rohit also has a younger brother named Vishal Sharma.
Rohit Sharma married Ritika Sajdeh, a sports manager, on 13th December 2015 and they have a daughter named Samaira born on December 30, 2018.
Early age cricket and Under 19 Cricket World cup
Sharma joined a cricket camp in 1999 where Dinesh lad, his coach, spotted Rohit’s early talent and asked him to change his school to Swami Vivekanand International School, where Lad was the coach. Due to Rohit’s poor financial state, Dinesh lad helped him get a scholarship.
Rohit started as an off-spinner who could bat down the order before Dinesh Lad spotted Rohit’s pristine batting skills and promoted him to open the innings. He excelled in the school cricket tournaments opening the innings and scored a century on debut.
Sharma made his List A debut for West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy on March 2005 and batted at number eight scoring a critical 31 not out as West Zone won by 3 wickets. However, it was Rohit’s unbeaten innings of 142 in 123 balls against North Zone in that tournament that made people take notice as it was a mixture of composed yet authoritative batting on display. His exploits at the Deodhar trophy helped him get selected to the India A squad and later among India’s 30-member probable list for the ICC Champions Trophy tournament 2006 in India. However, Rohit missed out on the final squad for the same.
Sharma made his first-class debut for India A against New Zealand A in July 2006 and made a promising start with scores of 57 and 22 as India won by 3 wickets. Thereafter, he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in the 2006–07 season and scored a terrific 205 off 267 balls against Gujarat that mixed caution with aggression in equal measure as Mumbai went on to win the tournament with Sharma scoring another pivotal half-century in his second innings of the final against Bengal. Sharma has spent his entire domestic first-class career as part of the Mumbai squad and was later appointed as the captain in 2013.
Rohit Sharma was part of the 2005/2006 Under 19 World cup Indian team and scored a total of 205 runs at an average of 41 and a Strike rate of 77 for the tournament. He also took 4 wickets at an economy of just 2.50.
His highest score of 78 came in the final group stage encounter against Sri Lanka as he helped India chase down Sri Lanka’s 207 by 4 wickets in the 48th over. Rohit then went on to score critical 50’s in both the Quarterfinals and Semifinals against West Indies and England as he helped India reach the finals where they ended up losing to Pakistan.
A solid start to Rohit Sharma’s domestic career coupled with a good showing in the Under 19 World cup meant a place in the Indian side was just around the corner for the talented right-hander.
Debut in Indian Cricket Team
Rohit Sharma made his international debut in a one-off ODI against Ireland in June 2007. However, he was slotted at number 7 in the batting order which meant he didn’t get an opportunity to bat as India won by 9 wickets.
He was selected to the T20 world cup squad for 2007 and made his T20I debut against England in a crucial must-win encounter. While he did not get an opportunity to bat in that match, he played a critical role in the subsequent match against South Africa that was a virtual Quarterfinal. He also played a key cameo in the finals against Pakistan helping India win the World cup.
This helped him get selected to be part of the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers squad for the IPL in 2008 and during his tenure with the Chargers, Rohit was a key component in finishing innings in the middle order helping them win the title in 2009.
Rohit then made his test debut in the Sachin Tendulkar farewell series against West Indies in November 2013. He made an emphatic 177 on debut at the Eden Gardens where he transitioned from stout defense at the start to brutal attack towards the latter part of his innings.
He followed that up with a scintillating 111* in the next test at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It was at this juncture he was on his way to finally realize his potential, especially in the limited-overs format, where he was moved up to open the innings due to his lack of consistency batting in the middle order.
Breakthrough Inning
Rohit Sharma’s breakthrough year for India came in 2013 from the Champions Trophy in June when the Indian management decided to make Rohit open the innings. Although Rohit had been part of the national setup for close to 6 years, his performances were inconsistent while batting in the middle order with an average in the low 30’s.
He had made a couple of noteworthy centuries in the tri-series of 2010 in Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe along with a crucial 66 in the first final of the Commonwealth bank series 2008 in Australia. He followed it up with a good series in the West Indies in 2011 post the disappointment of being left out of the world cup squad. However, he could neither be a regular member in the playing eleven nor put together a string of consistent scores for any length of time.
While the abundance of talent was there to see, there were growing frustrations among the public and the experts at how it wasn’t being maximized which resulted in him being left out of the Indian squad for the 2011 World cup.
The move up to open the batting at the Champions trophy paid rich dividends as he started the tournament with a couple of crucial ’50s that provided the platform for India to launch into winning totals and eventually helped them win the trophy.
Post that, a confident and settled Rohit launched into the Australian attack in the 2013 home series with 2 centuries that included an incredible 209 in the series decider. However, it was his knock of 141* in the second ODI that was his breakthrough innings as he along with Dhawan and Kohli helped India chase a mammoth score of 360 in 43.3 overs to level the series at 1-1. He followed this up with his magnificent debut test series debut against the West Indies, where he recorded back-to-back centuries.
The move to make Rohit open the batting is believed to be one of the best in Indian Cricket as he has dominated World cricket, especially in the ODI arena since, and helped make India the most formidable side over the last 4-5 years. The second half of 2013 when Rohit finally achieved the consistency combined with match-winning impact was arguably his breakthrough year since which he has been one of the biggest stalwarts of Indian cricket.
Future in Cricket
Rohit Sharma has already become an all-time great in the white-ball game and is considered as one of the greatest ODI openers of all time. He took it to even greater heights in the 2019 World Cup that helped him win the “ICC ODI cricketer of the year for 2019”.
He has also established himself as India’s number one opener in Test cricket with his consistent and match-winning performances at home against SA and England over the last 2 years.
He also played an instrumental role in setting up India’s victories in Australia earlier this year.
Some of Rohit Sharma’s major records include:
- Most T20 Centuries – 4
- Most IPL trophies as captain – 4
- Most centuries in a single World cup – 5
- Highest ODI score – 264 vs Sri Lanka
- Most double centuries in ODI’s – 3
With Rohit at the peak of his career, he holds the key to India’s future in all formats of the game over the next 4-5 years. It is also believed that he will be India’s next captain given his impeccable record as a captain in the IPL where he has led Mumbai to 4 titles in the last 6 years.
