Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

Source: Cricinfo, 18 November 2007

Rohit Sharma (Born April 30, 1987, in Bansod, Nagpur) is an Indian cricketer. Sharma is a right-handed middle-order batsman and occasional right-armed offbreak bowler. Coming through the ranks, having played under-17 and under-19 cricket for India, Sharma impressed in the under-19 junior World Cup in Sri Lanka.

The unbeaten 142 in 123 balls for West Zone against North Zone in the Deodhar Trophy in Udaipur in March 2006 brought him further into reckoning. Performances for the Indian A sides in Abu Dhabi and Australia followed leading to him being selected for the 30 member probables list for the Champions Trophy (though he didn't make the final squad) and the Challenger Trophy.

His first Ranji Trophy game for his first-class side Mumbai was in the 2006/2007 season. In his first few matches, not only did he make ordinary scores, but Mumbai, a traditional heavyweight in Indian domestic cricket, struggled mightily. It was in their match against Gujarat in December 2006 that Sharma hammered 205 in 267 balls and set the foundation for an innings victory for Mumbai. Mumbai then went on to win two more matches against Rajasthan and Maharashtra by an innings, thus making their way into the Ranji Trophy playoffs. Sharma hit a 50 in the final against Bengal and Mumbai won the tournament.

After India's poor performance at the 2007 Cricket World Cup, selectors looked at new players to represent India at the national level. As a result, Sharma was selected for the limited-overs matches on India's tour to Ireland in 2007. He made his One-day International debut against Ireland at Belfast although he did not bat in the match.

On 20 September 2007, he reached a new summit when he scored an unbeaten 50 (which came off 40 deliveries) against South Africa in the Twenty20 World Cup 2007, to reserve India a berth in the semifinals of the tournament. At one stage India were 61-4 but he retained his composure and with help from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (who scored an invaluable 45) they added 85 for the fifth wicket partnership helping India post a respectable total of 153-5. He looked quick in the outfield and was responsible for running out Justin Kemp. He was eventually declared Man of the Match. Skipper Dhoni, after the match, said, "It was a brilliant performance by Rohit Sharma, he's been sat out for ages and didn't play (on the tour of) England, but I was really happy with the way we played. There was a bit of grass on the wicket so we knew it would do a bit." Sharma also scored 30 runs off 16 balls in the final against Pakistan, runs that were to prove crucial in India's victory.

References

Cricinfo player page