"He is definitely in that class" - When an Australian legend picked Rohit Sharma as one of the batters he didn't want to bowl at

Team India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma may be struggling for runs at present. However, at his peak, he was one of the most dangerous batters in international cricket, especially in the white-ball formats. The 37-year-old holds the record for having scored the most runs in T20Is and is the only batter in history with three One-Day International double hundreds.

Rohit has amassed 10,866 runs in 265 ODIs at an average of 49.16 and a strike rate of 92.43, with the aid of 31 hundreds and 57 half-centuries, as well as a best of 264. The right-handed batter ended his T20I career with 4,231 runs in 159 matches at an average of 32.05 and a strike rate of 140.89, with five hundreds and 32 fifties. He jointly holds the record for most T20I tons with Glenn Maxwell.

Back in May 2020, Australia's fast bowling legend Brett Lee paid a massive compliment to Rohit as described him as a batter he didn't want to bowl at. The Aussie speedster, regarded among the greatest fast bowlers of all time, told Star Sports on their show Cricket Connected:

“He was flamboyant and aggressive but my first memory of Rohit Sharma was the sound of his bat... That’s the first thing I could think of; the knock of the bat from people hitting the ball right off the center — it’s a different sound.

"He is the kind of guy who is so mentally switched on, that once he gets through the tough period, he cashes in... When you got guys like Sharma at the top of the order, who can dominate from early on, they are the guys I don’t want to bowl to. He is definitely in that class,” the former Australian bowler added.

Lee (48) played 76 Tests, 221 ODIs and 25 T20Is for Australia between 1999 and 2008. He claimed 310 wickets in Tests at an average of 30.81, 380 in one-dayers at an average of 23.36, and 28 in T20Is at an average of 25.50.

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Rohit Sharma has been retained as captain for ODIs against England and Champions Trophy

Despite an abysmal Test tour of Australia as both captain and player, Rohit has been retained as leader of the Indian team for the three-match ODI series at home against England and the ICC Champions Trophy.

Following the conclusion of the ongoing T20I series, India will be playing three one-dayers against England from February 6 to February 12. The Men in Blue will kick off their group campaign in the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh on February 20. They will take on Pakistan on February 23 and New Zealand on March 2. India will play all their Champions Trophy games in Dubai.