Rohit Sharma: More Than Just Hitman

Of late though he has begun to flourish in the longer format of the game as well, especially after he was pushed up to open the innings. He is also the most successful captain in the history of the IPL, having led Mumbai Indians to five title triumphs...

- Renin Wilben

Team India’s new limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma is regarded as one of the finest batters of the current era, particularly in the white-ball format. Of late though he has begun to flourish in the longer format of the game as well, especially after he was pushed up to open the innings. He is also the most successful captain in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), having led Mumbai Indians to five title triumphs.

34-year-old Rohit has so far featured in 43 Tests, 227 ODIs and 119 T20Is. He has 3047 runs to his name in Test matches at an average of 46.87 with eight hundreds, 14 fifties and a best of 212. In the one-day format, Rohit has amassed 9205 runs at a splendid average of 48.96 with 29 hundreds and 43 fifties. He has a record best of 264 in the format. In T20Is, the Hitman has smashed 3197 runs at a strike rate of 140.28 with four hundreds and 26 half-centuries. Expect Rohit to add a few more before he hangs his boots.

ROHIT SHARMA: THE EARLY YEARS

Rohit was born on 30 April 1987 in Bansod in Nagpur, Maharashtra. His father used to work as a caretaker of a transport firm storehouse. Due to his father’s low salary, the cricketer had to be raised by his grandparents and uncles in Borivali. Rohit would get to visit his parents, who lived in a single-room home in Dombivli, only during weekends.

Even when he joined a cricket camp in 1999, it was with his uncle's money. His coach Dinesh Lad asked him to change his school, where Lad was the coach and the cricket facilities were better than those at Rohit’s old school.