Rohit Sharma Career
Rohit Sharma at the 2023 World Cup (AP)
Rohit Sharma, a name synonymous with elegance and explosive for his approach towards batting, has carved his niche among world’s most revered opening batsmen. Sharma’s journey to cricketing stardom is a testament to resilience and skill.
Making his debut in 2007 in Belfast, and subsequently turning up for Team India at the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa, he steadily etched his mark in limited-overs cricket before becoming a pivotal force in all formats.
Rohit Sharma’s Early Life and Entry into Professional Cricket
Rohit Sharma started out as an off-spinner and joined a cricket camp in 1999, where he was encouraged by childhood coach Dinesh Lad to focus on his batting instead. The move worked wonders for the then youngster, who stacked up runs in heap in Harris and Giles Shield school cricket tournaments.
Sharma’s early success as a batter eventually led him to professional debuts for Mumbai and India A in domestic cricket. He played his maiden first-class match for India A in Darwin as a 19-year-old, and played his first T20 match during the 2007 Inter-State T20 tournament for Mumbai in April 2007, i.e., mere months before receiving his first international call-up for a series in Ireland.
Impact in T20 World Cup 2007 and CB Series 2008
Even though Rohit Sharma made his international debut for India through an ODI in Ireland, he received his first major crack at senior level in September 2007 during the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa.
In his maiden international innings itself, the then youngster bludgeoned a match-winning 50* against hosts and tournament favorites South Africa, one which fueled India’s campaign towards the next stage.
Roughly a week later in front of a packed Wanderers Stadium, he produced another impactful knock, this time brandishing his bat against arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals. By the end of it all, the 20-year-old found himself at the winner’s podium alongside the rest of his India teammates, as they were crowned as the inaugural world champions of T20 cricket.
Rohit Sharma with Sachin Tendulkar during the 2008 tri-series final (x.com)
Sharma’s ascension in T20s earned him a ticket to Australia for a tri-nation series involving Sri Lanka in January 2008. While he initially struggled on tough surfaces against the then ODI champions, the right-hander punched out a match-winning partnership with idol and ageing warrior Sachin Tendulkar in the finals to orchestrate India’s remarkable series win ‘Down Under’.
2011 World Cup Snub and 2013 Champions Trophy Redemption
Rohit Sharma seemingly cemented his place in India’s ODI setup, plundering his first two centuries in a space of three days during a 2010 tri-series in Zimbabwe. However, a slump in form in South Africa prior to the 2011 World Cup forced selectors and the team management to sideline him from the big event.
He eventually regained his lost footing in team’s subsequent white-ball tour of West Indies, where his match-winning knocks proved integral to India’s 3-2 win under stand-in skipper Suresh Raina.
Despite his disastrous run of form throughout 2012, then captain MS Dhoni kept faith and revived his career by promoting him as team opener alongside newcomer Shikhar Dhawan at the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. The pairing turned out to be a huge success as their belligerent partnerships at the top led India to a remarkable title triumph, defeating hosts in a closely-fought final.
Test Debut, Overall Career and Stats
Rohit Sharma made his Test debut in November 2013 with a home series against West Indies, which also marked the final set of fixtures of Sachin Tendulkar’s expansive career. Crashing Tendulkar’s farewell party, Sharma pounded two successive match-winning tons to bag the ‘Player of the Series’ award on his maiden assignment itself.
Unfortunately, he had to endure a four-year wait for his third century owing to his uneven overseas form and sporadic appearances in the Indian team. He ultimately established himself among India’s first-choice XI during team’s 2019 series against South Africa, where he doubled his century tally with three successive tons in a space of a month.
However, his magnum opus Test performance occurred at The Oval against England in September 2021, where his fighting 127 wiped off India’s 99-run first-innings deficit and led them to a historic 157-run triumph on fifth afternoon. Remarkably, the knock also marked his first overseas hundred, occurring in the ninth year of his Test career.
In February 2022, he was appointed India’s new Test captain, thus taking over team’s all-format leadership from fellow senior teammate Virat Kohli.
Rohit Sharma Test Stats
| Test Matches | 53 |
|---|---|
| Innings | 90 |
| Runs | 3,682 |
| Average | 45.45 |
| Highest Score | 212 |
| Strike-Rate | 56.16 |
| 100s/50s | 10/16 |
Dominance in 2019 and 2023 ODI World Cups
Rohit Sharma emerged as the leading run-getter of the 2019 World Cup with 648 runs to his name. The dynamic opening batsman blasted five match-winning centuries during the course of the tournament (world record), which included a regal 140 against arch-rivals Pakistan. Unfortunately for him and the Indian team, Virat Kohli and co. were toppled by New Zealand in the high-octane semifinal.
Sharma also belted his opponents, regardless of their reputation, throughout the 2023 World Cup at home. Leading Team India for the first time at the premier ODI event, the cricketer unleashed explosive starts at the top to score nearly 600 runs from 11 innings. However, much like 2019, his team’s unbeaten campaign was halted by Australia at the brink of title glory.
Rohit Sharma Overall ODI Stats and Top Records
Rohit Sharma holds a number of top ODI batting milestones to his name, including the records of scoring most double-hundreds and the highest individual score in the men’s format.
Having made his debut through the format in June 2007, it took him six years to truly establish himself as one of the linchpins of India’s star-studded batting line-up. Ever since he was tasked to open the innings at the 2013 Champions Trophy, the cricketer has spent his subsequent years mowing down some of the biggest ODI batting records in history. Here is a look at some of the elite records he currently holds in his 50-overs internationals profile:
- Highest individual score in ODIs (264 off 173 balls against SL, 2014)
- Highest number of ODI double centuries (three)
- Only batsman to score 250 or more in an ODI innings
- Second-fastest in the world to get to 10,000 ODI runs (after Virat Kohli)
- Third highest number of ODI centuries (after Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar)
- Most centuries in a single edition of an ODI World Cup (five centuries in 2019)
- Third highest number of ODI sixes (after Shahid Afridi and Chris Gayle)
Rohit Sharma ODI Stats
| ODI Matches | 262 |
|---|---|
| Innings | 254 |
| Runs | 10,709 |
| Average | 49.12 |
| Highest Score | 264 |
| Strike-Rate | 91.97 |
| 100s/50s | 31/55 |
Rohit Sharma T20I Profile, Stats and Top Records
Rohit Sharma, a veteran of 148 T20I matches, is the most-capped men’s player in the history of the format. The current Indian skipper is also one of the very few cricketers to have played each of the first eight editions of the ICC T20 World Cup, from its inaugural chapter in 2007 to its latest spectacle in Australia in late 2022.
Sharma holds a number of elite batting milestones in T20I cricket, including the record of hitting the highest number of sixes and featuring among the highest run-getters in the all-time list. Here is a look at some of the biggest records he holds in T20I levels for Team India:
- Joint-highest number of T20I centuries alongside Suryakumar Yadav and Glenn Maxwell (four each)
- Second highest number of 50-plus scores after Virat Kohli (33)
- Second highest number of T20I career runs behind Virat Kohli
- Highest number of T20I career sixes (182)
- Most men’s T20I matches played (148)
- Highest strike-rate among all batters with more than 3,500 runs (139.24)
Rohit Sharma T20I Stats
| T20I Matches | 150 |
|---|---|
| Innings | 140 |
| Runs | 3,853 |
| Average | 30.82 |
| Highest Score | 118 |
| Strike-Rate | 139.09 |
| 100s/50s | 4/29 |
Rohit Sharma IPL Career
Rohit Sharma also happens to be among the greatest of players to have ever taken field in BCCI’s multi-million-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL). Making his debut in the inaugural edition itself, the cricketer has lifted the coveted trophy six times in his career, including five times as captain of the Mumbai Indians franchise.
He is also among the leading run-getters in tournament’s history, only trailing behind Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner in an illustrious list.
Sharma commenced his IPL journey with the now-defunct Deccan Chargers under VVS Laxman and Adam Gilchrist’s tutelage. Impressing one-and-all in his maiden stint, the cricketer returned with a title-winning all-round performance in South Africa in 2009, hammering 362 runs while harvesting 11 wickets with his part-timers. Unsurprisingly, he won the ‘Emerging Player of the Tournament’ award, thus capping off a remarkable campaign for himself.
Sharma was later roped in by the Mumbai Indians management ahead of IPL 2011, in what turned out to be one of the signings of the competition’s rich history. He was tasked to lead his new franchise in 2013, after regular skipper Ricky Ponting self-exiled himself halfway into the league stage.
The then 26-year-old embraced his new responsibility by leading them to a historic title win, the first of many, and gave outbound Sachin Tendulkar a perfect parting gift in his post-planned farewell edition. He gifted Mumbai Indians’ fervent fanbase five more titles, including the Champions League T20, over the course of the subsequent ten years, to make his franchise the most decorated one in the history of the competition.
Rohit Sharma IPL Stats
| IPL Matches | 243 |
|---|---|
| Runs | 6,211 |
| Average | 29.58 |
| Highest Score | 109* |
| Strike-Rate | 130.05 |
| 100s/50s | 1/42 |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Rohit Sharma
Q: What is Rohit Sharma’s highest score in ODI cricket?
A: The highest score of Rohit Sharma in ODIs is the 264 he bludgeoned against Sri Lanka in 2014 at the Eden Gardens. Notably, his monumental effort was also the highest-ever score registered in the history of ODI cricket.
Q: Has Rohit Sharma ever won an ICC award in his career?
A: Rohit Sharma won the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2019, largely owing to his splendid run with the bat during the 2019 World Cup in England.
Q: How many centuries has Rohit Sharma scored in T20I cricket?
A: Rohit Sharma has scored four centuries in T20I cricket, which is the joint-highest in the format alongside Glenn Maxwell.
Q: When was Rohit Sharma appointed as India’s full-time captain?
A: Rohit Sharma was appointed as India’s full-time captain across all formats shortly after team’s first round exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE, thus taking over the high-profile role from his teammate Virat Kohli.
Q: Is Rohit Sharma the leading six-hitter in international cricket?
A: Yes. In mid-2023, Rohit Sharma soared past Chris Gayle (553 sixes) to become the leading six-hitter in international cricket across all three formats. As of December 2023, the Indian opening batsman was leading the race with 582 sixes.
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