Rohit Sharma - The 'Hitman' story

Rohit Sharma

Borivali – a small suburb in the northwest part of Mumbai is home to a large percentage of Marathi and Gujarati middle class families. Famous for the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and fast food filled streets, the place is of special significance to Indian cricket. It is the birthplace of Rohit Sharma, the man of the moment and is also the place where he took his first step towards cricket. Who knew, the kid playing in the building compound, will end up scoring a double century for India in ODIs.

It is said that people possess the qualities of the place they are groomed in. Sharma, just like the place where he was born and brought up, carries a special calmness within him. In 2007, Sharma was noted as the man gifted with immense and extra-ordinary cricketing talent and the ability to play cricketing shots ‘at will’. It is surprising that Sharma, during his coaching days was not associated with any of the famous Gymkhana’s in the city. He was mentored by Dinesh Lad, who himself could not clear the BCCI level coaching exam. He never made the second attempt at it, but somehow unearthed a wonderful talent in the form of young Sharma.

Sharma’s first limelight moment was in Deodhar Trophy, when he scored a 140 odd against North Zone at Udaipur. The place was not even a major cricketing city, where you could read about him in the newspapers. But soon in the following 2006-2007 Ranji season, Sharma debuted for Mumbai and was looked up as someone special with his exceptional double century against Gujarat and a gutsy half century against Bengal hitting the headlines.

The first I heard of Rohit Sharma was in the 2007 T20 World Cup, when a young Indian side won the trophy, without a coach. I still remember the half-century in the match against SA, an innings full of guts, wristy strokes and sensational pull shots. He earned the MotM for his half-century and a mind-blowing hit at stumps to get Kemp run-out. Rohit Sharma rose to fame with his knock of 66 versus Australia in one of the CB Series finals where he shared a 123-run stand with Tendulkar. An innings that was decorated with some of the best cover drives I have seen. Rohit’s talent did make my eyes pop. You know you are looking at someone special, when he can plant his front foot down, and is able to pull over the square leg, with great balance and style. He is gifted with the ability to judge the length of the ball as soon as it is released and that gives him a lot of time to plan and play his shots.

Between 2010 and 2012, Sharma had a decent cricketing season but was in and out of the team and could not cement a place in the team. This gave the opportunity to Suresh Raina and a brash Virat Kohli to claim the open spot in the team. Sharma on the other hand, was termed as ‘lazy’ by many of his Deccan Charger team-mates. Some cricket pundits made a mention of him not being disciplined enough to play at the international level. Although, every Indian batsman, talked about Sharma’s stroke-play in the nets and him being the best of the lot, but that was never showcased on the field. He looked ordinary even against some of the ordinary bowling attacks in the world. He struggled on the tour to Sri Lanka, the Caribbean islands and the Champions Trophy in England.

Fast forwarding to November 2, 2013. A 26-year-old Sharma scores a magnificent double hundred against Australia. An innings that was a trademark of his free-flowing cricketing shots. The pull and the cover drives was all I was looking for. Effortless. What has changed for Rohit Sharma? Is it the change in the batting position? Rohit Sharma started opening the batting for India in January 2013 and since then has scored 7 magnificent half centuries and 2 scintillating hundreds. He scored 162 runs in the entire cricketing season of 2012, so one can imagine the turn-around.

I was still wondering with my questions of what has changed for Sharma, and by that time, I saw the marvelous 177 against WI at Eden Garden, Kokata. The innings was special for 2 reasons. Firstly, it was in a situation when the team needed it the most and secondly; Sharma is the only player to have played more than 100 one day internationals before a test call. It was as if, he was destined to score a hundred on his debut.

Apart from opening the batting for India for the past one year, Sharma has enjoyed taking responsibilities on his shoulders. First, captaining Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2013 and being looked upon as the ‘game-changer’. Following that, captaining MI in the Champions League and then earning the Mumbai Ranji team captaincy. Can responsibilities make talent meet temperament and discipline? Well, it worked for Rohit Sharma. It is really interesting to see how his approach towards the game has changed. For a moment, one would feel that he has been his own antagonist. He has been patient throughout the journey. The famous quote by Dravid – “God’s delays are not God’s denials” fits perfectly for Rohit Sharma.

Some might call it a ‘comeback’. For me it is just Rohit Sharma batting to his potential. His pull, late cut and the cover drives define his elegance. Only Rahul Dravid portrayed that elegance, throughout his career. Rohit Sharma, is a blend of the style Dravid carried and the attacking cricket Tendulkar played in 1998. We should stop talking about him being the next Tendulkar or next Laxman. He could just be the first Rohit Sharma India is about to witness. His talent has opened doors to Indian Cricket and it will be his consistency and temperament that will make him an unstoppable stylish run machine.