This might be Rohit Sharma’s final World T20. April 2007’s TOI format analyses his trip and explores what makes the man—the sole participant in all 8 events outside Shakib Al Hasan—such an unstoppable force. The cricket team’s early exit from the ODI World Cup in the West Indies left fans still processing what happened.
The BCCI had reluctantly agreed to send a team to the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa in exchange for sharing the hosting rights for the 2011 ODI World Cup with Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
By the end of June, they had to assemble a team and identify 30 probables.
Mumbai was playing Gujarat at the Brabourne Stadium in the West Zone leg. Chasing 142, they lost Ajinkya Rahane on the first pitch. To become the first Indian to make a T20 century, Rohit Sharma, who is still only 19, came in and hammered an unbeaten 101 off 45 balls with 13 fours and five sixes.
He was selected for the white-ball tours of England and Ireland the following month and was included in the 30-man probables for South Africa. The man eventually developed into a white-ball titan despite having inconsistent opportunities in the beginning.
Rohit’s childhood coach, Dinesh Lad, claims: “In 2007, he would phone and complain that he was passing up opportunities. This is an Indian squad, not a gully-mohalle ka team, I informed him. The chances are slim. When they appear, seize them. As Yuvraj Singh’s replacement in a knockout match against South Africa in Durban, he scored a critical 50, and he hasn’t looked back since.”
Like the game itself, T20 came naturally to Rohit, which presented a challenge because some people mistook his sluggish grace for lethargy.
Lad explains why, while others struggled, Rohit embraced T20. “Rohit typically uses a straight bat when playing, if you see him. He maintains simplicity. He rarely leaves the house for elaborate photos.”
It’s a quality that his former Mumbai coach and India batsman Pravin Amre, who helped Rohit get a deal with Air India, trained him in Mumbai during his rookie season, and who served as the coach in the match against Gujarat, also stands out.
“The base Rohit has is excellent. an excellent base. Additionally, he is quite clear and doesn’t overcomplicate things. He does not consider being captain while he hits. He doesn’t consider batting while serving as captain “Amre elucidates.
He was equipped with additional quality thanks to these qualities and a talent for choosing length early and getting more time than others. Confidence. Lad says, “He never doubts himself.”
“I questioned him if he could start for the school in just his second Giles Shield game (Swami Vivekanand). He’d never opened before, but he leaped at the chance. hitting karaychi khujli ahe tyaala, “He continues, “(He has the need to only bat.)”
That may help to understand why he agreed when MS Dhoni, the captain, requested him to bat at the top of the order in the ODI match against England at Mohali in 2013. It ended up being a pivotal decision for my career. The same is true of his comeback in Test cricket in 2019, when he agreed to open.
At age 35, Rohit will be captaining India for the first time in an ICC competition, and this may be his final World Cup in the T20 format.
Rohit has pushed for a high risk, high reward strategy following the most recent T20 WC in the UAE. He has attracted attractive 20s and 30s thanks to it. However, many believe he is undervaluing himself by using this strategy.
“I want him to play patiently and appropriately. He will consistently get an 80 or 100 if he bats for 20 overs “Lad claims.
Amre agrees. “Check out his three double centuries in ODIs and four centuries in T20Is. The second half is when things started to pick up speed. He has taken roughly 20 balls from 150 to 200. I hope he extends his stay in Australia. Because he plays the short ball well, he can dominate on such pitches.”
