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Rohit Sharma first played for India A and zonal teams before debuting for Mumbai. (File/AP)
India ODI captain Rohit Sharma has completed 18 years since making his international debut in June 2007 in Ireland. What makes the 38-year-old’s journey in professional cricket is the fact that Rohit belonged to a rare bunch of players in making his senior debut on a rung above his state team, Mumbai, back in 2006. Interestingly, Rohit’s maiden First-Class match at the senior level was against New Zealand A with the India A side on a quaint cricket ground on the northern stretches of Australia in Darwin.
Rohit also went on to make his 50-over List A debut in the Deodhar Trophy for West Zone, scoring an unbeaten 31 in a match-winning cause at No. 8. Within a year, Rohit burst into the India ODI team and played a crucial hand in the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. Former India batter and selector Jatin Paranjape recently revealed how his late father and renowned coach, Vasoo Paranjape, spotted a young Rohit’s talent and even passed on a glorious prophecy.
“I remember my father (Vasoo Paranjape) was the chief talent scout of the MCA. He came back saying, ‘Jatin, after Sachin (Tendulkar), I have seen somebody who will take the world by storm’. I said, ‘Who is it?’. He said, ‘There is this boy called Rohit Sharma, who hasn’t played any cricket and they don’t rate him, but I have had a chat with a couple of coaches today and they have picked him in the developmental squad’. I said, ‘Yeah, we have heard of him too in the Mumbai dressing room’. He said, ‘This guy is going to be the next Mumbai player to play for India’,” revealed Jatin on ‘A Century of Stories’ podcast with Cyrus Broacha.
Paranjape also said that it was the involvement of former India wicket-keeper and then-selector Kiran More who brought Rohit into the national radar, even before he had made his Mumbai debut in any format.
“For players like these, you need a lot of strategic planning to be had in your career. That cannot be done by a player. For me, Kiran More being a part of the selection committee when Rohit was just kind of coming up was a very big advantage because Kiran has got a super, super eye for talent. Kiran picked him before the MCA picked him. He played for India A before he played for Mumbai. Those are the kind of people you need”.
Test underachiever and the Shastri push
After a disastrous tour to Australia, Rohit announced his Test retirement in May, wrapping up his stint in whites with over 4000 runs and an average just above 40. The former India skipper still, however, remains as India’s leading run-scorer in the World Test Championship. Jatin stated that Rohit received a much-needed revival in Tests from former head coach Ravi Shastri, who pushed him to open in 2019.
“That’s the big moment (when Shastri told him to open the batting). I remember I was part of the selection committee at that time. That was Ravi Shastri’s idea (to get Rohit Sharma to open the batting). Superb thinker. Ravi is 3-4 steps ahead of everybody when it comes to reading the game.”
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“I remember he was not playing Test cricket for India. And we had this conversation, and he said, ‘I started playing cricket with a red ball, Jatin. How can you say that I am not interested in Test cricket?’ I got the message and I was hoping that that was what he would say. He said he lives for Test cricket. I think Rohit Sharma could have done a lot more in Test cricket. I think he would be the first one to say that as well. I was a little bit disappointed that he chose to drop himself in Sydney because we could have levelled the series,” Paranjpe said.
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