“I am a huge fan of Rohit Sharma. The way he has taken the cricket to another level, is commendable.”
Herschelle Gibbs (South African former Cricket Player)
Yes, Gibbs here is all praises for the Indian hitting machine Rohit Sharma. The right-handed batsman hasearned immense respect and evolved rich in stature in the past couple of years which has made him not only the apple of Indian team’s eye but an international cricket sensation. Recently, ICC named Rohit as the ODI Cricketer of the Year.
Besides, he is the only cricketer in history to score double centuries thrice. The story of how an average boy from a poor family became one of the most prized possessions of the Indian cricket team is indeed inspiring. Rohit’s craze in the fantasy cricket landscape, among the players, is worth watching as fantasy owners just go mad to cherry-pick to form their robust virtual squads and elevate the chance to win lucrative rewards.
Currently, Rohit Sharma is handling the vice-captaincy for the Indian cricket team and is the skipper for the Mumbai Indians team too much on his plate, right? So, why not have a look at how he reached the peak of success? Let’s start with his early life and background:
Where Was Rohit Born & How Was His Childhood?
Rohit was born on 30 April 1987 in the orange city of India Nagpur Maharashtra to a very poor family where his mother Purnima Sharma was a homemaker and father Gurunath Sharma worked in a storehouse as a caretaker. His parents couldn’t send him to school due to poor financial condition and as a result, he was sent to his grandparents’ house.
Rohit Sharma was passionate about cricket since his childhood and hence he joined a cricket camp by borrowing money from his uncle. At that time Dinesh Lad was his mentor and he made his shift to Swami Vivekananda International School and Junior College that was having much better cricket amenities.
Lad arranged a sponsorship for him and because of this Rohit studied at the school for four years without paying any fees. Initially, Rohit played as an off-spinner and showed a little interest in batting. His coach noticed his batting acumen and as a result, he scored a century as an opener while playing for the Harris and Giles Shield school cricket championship.
How The Journey Of Rohit Has Been In The Domestic Cricket Front?
Rohit Sharma debuted in cricket in March 2005 for the Deodhar Trophy that was held in Gwalior along with Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara. Rohit scored smashing 142 runs in 123 balls at Udaipur against North Zone which made him the center of attraction. Also, he made his first-class cricket debut at the age of 19 in 2007 and hit 205 runs in his first match.
Rohit’s first-class debut for Indian A-team happened in July 2006 at Darwin against the Kiwis where he scored 57 runs in 22 balls and Indian won the match. Also, he made his debut in Ranji Trophy in the 2006–07 season for Mumbai and made smashing 205 runs in just 267 balls playing against Gujarat.
In his entire domestic career, he has been a part of the Mumbai squad and in 2009 December he performed the best to date by scoring 309 runs against Gujrat again that too going not out in the Ranji Trophy. Also, he became the skipper of the Mumbai team before the 2013-14 season.
What Has Been The Graph of Rohit Sharma’s International Cricket Career?
Rohit made his test cricket debut in 2013 against the West Indies at the Eden Garden Kolkata that was the farewell series of Sachin Tendulkar. He hit 177 runs which is the second-best score made on a debut match by any Indian where the first place is occupied by the run-making machine Shikhar Dhawan.
Rohit appeared in the test series of 2018–19 tour of Australia as he was out from the Indian Test team in 2017-18. He scored 37 runs in the first test in Adelaide. Due to a minor injury that happened in the first match itself Sharma missed the second test match in Perth but reappeared in the thirst one that held in Melbourne and made 63 not out.
In 2019, Rohit Sharma joined the 2000 runs squad and scored his first double century (212) in Tests playing in the third test match against the South African team in the first innings.
Talking about Rohit’s Cricket World Cup appearances he played in the 2015 and 2019 World Cup tournaments and he performed in eight matches for the team against the Aussies in the 2015 tournament. He made remarkable 330 runs in the championship comprising one century. Also, in the quarter-final tie against the Bangladesh cricket team he scored 137 runs.
In the 2019 World Cup tournament Rohit was appointed as the vice-captain for the Indian cricket squad and in the opening match only he made 122 runs against the South African team that also marked his 12000 runs in his international career. Playing against Sri Lankan team Rohit Sharma became the first batsman to make five centuries in the same series.
With this amazing performance, he equaled Sachin’s record for scoring the most centuries in World Cup tournaments by scoring in total 648 runs and finishing as the leading run-getter. The cherry on the top, he grabbed the ICC Golden Bat Award and earned the recognition of being the third Indian batsman to do the same.
The Rise To Rohit’s Glory: International T20 Cricket Landscape & The IPL Niche
Rohit Sharma was first included in the Indian cricket team for participating in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and as usual, he showcased his finest batting acumen by scoring 50 runs that too not out in just 40 balls. In 2015, against the South African squad, Sharma scored 106 runs and with this, he became the second Indian player to hit smashing centuries in international cricket’s all three formats.
Without a doubt, Rohit is one of the most popular cricketers in the Indian Premier League landscape and has been handling the captaincy of the Mumbai Indians team since 2013. As of now, he is one of the top ten cricketers to score 4000 runs in the IPL tournaments. Also, he is the third-highest run-getter in the niche after Kohli and Raina.
Rohit Sharma joined the IPL landscape in 2008 when he was signed by the Deccan Chargers at a whopping amount of US$750,000 a year. Mumbai Indians cherry-picked him in 2011 by paying US$2 million.
Coming to Rohit’s IPL stats he has scored only a century (109 not out) in the 2012 season against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Also, the Mumbai Indians team has grabbed the IPL title four times under his captaincy in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019 respectively. For IPL 2020, Mumbai has retained the gem in their squad and there’s a lot more expected from him in the tournament.
How About Exploring Rohit’s Stats Till Date?
Considering to date career stats of Rohit, he has played 32 test matches in total and scored 2141 runs. Coming to the ODIs he has appeared in 224 games and made 9115 runs. What’s the best part of his career is that he has played in 326 T20 cricket matches and scored smashing 8517 runs. Now, that’s incredible and this is why Rohit Sharma is believed to be one of the gems of IPL.
Are You Under The Impression That The Rohit’s Story Has Come To An End? No Way, There’s Much More To That. Want To Find Out?
Rohit Sharma has established himself with the help of sheer determination and passion for the game. In his cricket career so far, he has made several records and earned many honors. Let’s walk through the most remarkable of them:
I. On 13 November 2014, Rohit scored smashing 264 runs against the Sri Lankan cricket team and made a world record for making the highest individual score in ODI matches by a batsman.
II. In the IPL landscape, he is the batsman with the maximum career runs as well as the centuries.
III. Rohit is the first-ever batsman to score double centuries as an opener that he did against the South African team in a test match in 2019. Also, in that tournament only he broke Shimron Hetmyer’s record for hitting maximum sixes.
IV. In the year 2015, Rohit Sharma grabbed the prestigious “Arjuna Award”.
V. Along with the South African run machine, AB de Villiers Sharma mutually shares the record of hitting the maximum number of sixes in one-day matches.
Let’s Have A Glimpse Into Sharma’s Personal Life
Rohit’s personal life has been an open book as he got married to Ritika Sajdeh in 2015. Ritika is an Indian Sports manager and the couple got blessed with a baby girl in 2018. Together they make a wonderful family and get spotted at many social events. Also, Ritika joins her hubby in almost every tournament to show her support and love.
The Final Say on The Indian Hitman: Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma is undoubtedly an aggressive player with elegance in his batting style. He either enters the fields as an opening batsman or in the middle-order line-up.
He is one such cricketing gem whom the little master Sunil Gavaskar compares to Viv Richards and Virender Sehwag and. In 2020, Rohit’s fans are expecting a lot in the IPL as well as the international front. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and wait for witnessing some more Sharma’s magic on the pitches.
