Happy Birthday Rohit Sharma: Indian cricket’s modern-day great turns 33
Happy Birthday Rohit Sharma: Away from the high-pressure situations in the Indian Premier League, Indian cricket’s milestone man turns 33 as he spends time with his family during the lockdown.
Happy Birthday, Rohit Sharma.
One of Indian cricket’s modern-day greats, Rohit Sharma had been celebrating his birthday in the middle of high-octane Indian Premier League seasons over the last 12 years. In the recent past, the special day for the Mumbai Indians captain came as a breather amid the high-pressure situations in the T20 league.
However, in 2020, Rohit Sharma is celebrating his birthday not with his Mumbai Indians teammates but his family as the IPL 2020 season has been suspended until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the time away from the competitive action, Rohit has got a rare opportunity to celebrate his 33rd birthday at home, with wife Ritika Sajdeh and daughter Samaira.
Rohit Sharma made his India debut as early as 2007. Even though the Mumbai batsman came up with some memorable performances in the nascent stages of his international career, his journey took a big turn when he was asked to open for India in 2013.
Rohit Sharma grabbed the opportunity that came his way with both hands and made an immediate impact in India’s winning-campaign in the 2013 Champions Trophy. Ever since there has been no-stopping Rohit. From one of the most criticised cricketers to becoming one of the most consistent players, the ‘Hitman’ has evolved into a modern-day great.
Rohit Sharma is the only cricketer on the planet to have hit 3 double hundreds in ODI cricket. He has been hitting Daddy Hundreds at will in the 50-over format of the game.
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When it comes to T20 cricket, Rohit is an undisputed champion. The Mumbai Indians skipper is the most successful captain in the IPL with 4 titles, one more than his former captain and India teammate MS Dhoni. It is no surprise that Rohit has drawn comparison with Dhoni when it comes to leading his IPL franchise in the high-voltage T20 league.
5 World Cup hundreds, memorable stint as Test opener
Rohit Sharma at the 2019 World Cup (Reuters Photo)
2019 was a major milestone in Rohit Sharma’s international career. At the 2019 World Cup, Rohit made sure the world watched his exploits in awe. With a record-breaking tally of 5 hundreds, Rohit scored 648 runs in 9 matches before India crashed out in the semi-final of the quadrennial tournament.
As Rohit Sharma mentions, it was a fine personal campaign in England even though the team imploded in the crucial semi-final against New Zealand.
Despite all his achievements in the limited-overs format of the game, Rohit Sharma’s Test career had been an enigma. But that changed in 2019 when he established himself in the longest form of the game as well.
Rohit had shown glimpses of excellence in the Test format but the Mumbai batsman stamped his authority when he was asked to open for India in 2019. Rohit demolished a South African bowling attack at home, hitting a hundred in his 1st Test match as opener. Rohit carried on and made the occasion special in Visakhapatnam by making it twin hundreds in the Test.
Rohit followed it up with a double hundred in the series finale in Ranchi and made sure the team did not look beyond him for the Test opener’s role. Rohit acknowledged that he was waiting for an opportunity to play Test cricket in New Zealand but a calf injury kept him out of the 2-Test series earlier this year.
‘Want to win World Cups’
As he heads into another busy period of cricket action (if and when the sport resumes following the Covid-19 crisis), Rohit has set his intentions clear.
“Winning the World Cup is a dream of all us, together. I want to win World Cups. Of course, every time you go out there, you want to win every game. But the World Cup is something that you know is the pinnacle of everything. I want to win World Cups,” Rohit told India Today recently.
With 2 T20 World Cups scheduled in the next 18 months and a much-anticipated Test series against Australia coming up, there will be no surprises if Rohit adds to the celebrated trophy cabinet in the near future.
