Rohit Sharma’s journey from humble beginnings in Borivali to becoming one of the world’s best openers is a testament to his talent and dedication. The ‘Hitman’ of world cricket’s journey has been nothing short of inspiring.
Team India captain and star batter Rohit Sharma has turned 38 on Wednesday, April 30. Rohit is regarded as not one of the best Indian captains but also among the best openers the cricketing world has ever witnessed.
After making his international debut for India in an ODI against Ireland, Rohit Sharma went on to establish himself as one of the most elegant and destructive openers in the world. Due to his ability to unleash his firepower and effortlessly time the ball, Rohit Sharma earned the sobriquet ‘Hitman’ and became the only batter to score three double centuries in ODIs, including a record 264 against Sri Lanka. He led India to T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 triumphs.
Rohit Sharma had a humble start to his cricket career, as he grew up in Dombivili and shifted to Borivali to live with his uncle to attend a cricket camp. Since then, he was residing in Borivili throughout the initial stage of his cricket career.
How did a humble boy from Borivali went on become ‘Hitman’ of world cricket?
Rohit Sharma resided with his uncle in Borivali due to father’s financial constraints. In 1998, Rohit joined cricket camp in Borivili after his father and five siblings pooled money by borrowing from friends to pay his fees. Dinesh Lad, who was coaching at the camp, was left impressed by Rohit Sharma’s off-spin and convinced his father to enroll him at the Swami Vivenkanda School, where he was a coach.
Since Rohit’s father could not afford his fees due to financial constraints, Lad helped him to get a scholarship at the Kandivili school, ensuring he could pursue studies and cricket without any financial burden. It proved to be a turning point of Rohit’s life and career as it gave access to structured coaching under the guidance of Dinesh Lad, better facilities, and competitive cricket, laying a foundation for his cricketing career.
Rohit Sharma started off his career as an off-spinner but his coach Dinesh Lad spotted his protege’s batting talent during a school tournament and decided to promote him to the up in the batting order, a move that would eventually shape Rohit Sharma as one of the best openers in the world.
Lad believed that batting was a natural talent of Rohit Sharma than bowling and thus, his potential needed to be nurtured by giving him more opportunities with the bat. Lad gave him more batting practice in the nets and made him bat at No.4 in the matches. In the next season, Rohit Sharma was in his school’s Harris Shield and Giles Shield teams. Lad’s decision to switch Rohit from off spin to batting paid off as he was consistently scoring centuries in the inter-school tournaments.
After performing well in school tournaments, Rohit Sharma received first career break when he was selected for the Mumbai U-17 team. His domestic breakthrough came when he scored a fine century against a corporate team, Air India and two of the most influential players in Mumbai cricket, Dilip Vengsarkar and Pravin Amre happened to watch his innings.
In 2006, Rohit Sharma was picked in India A squad for the Top End Series against New Zealand A and scored 57 and 22 in both the innings, marking his beginning of his first-class career. In December that year, Rohit Sharma made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai and scored a brilliant 205 off 267 balls against Gujarat at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This knock established him as one of the most promising young talents in domestic cricket.
In his debut Ranji Trophy season for Mumbai, Rohit Sharma amassed 531 runs, including a century and three fifties, at an average of 48.27 in 8 matches, while helping the team to clinch their 37th title of the prestigious tournament. In Ranji Trophy 2008-09, Rohit was the fifth highest run-getter, amassing 747 runs, including 3 centuries and as many fifties, at an average of 74.70 in seven matches. In 2009, the right-handed registered his maiden first-class triple ton, scoring 309 against Gujarat in a Ranji Trophy. He became the sixth Mumbai batter after Vijay Merchant, Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, and Wasim Jaffer to score a triple century in India’s prestigious domestic tournament.
Before making his domestic cricket debut, Rohit Sharma was picked in the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2007. This was a big moment in his career. He made his international debut against England, but he did not get a chance to bat as India finished their innings before he could walk in to bat. In the following match against South Africa, the cricketing world took a note of the talent of then 20-year-old lad from Mumbai as he played an unbeaten 50 off 40 balls to help India post a defendable total of 153/5 on the board. He was adjudged Player of the Match for his performance. In the final against Pakistan, Rohit scored a crucial unbeaten 30 off 16 balls to help India post a respectable total of 157/5.
After his successful start to international career at the 2007 T20 World Cup, where played a crucial role in India’s triumph in the inaugural edition of the tournament, Rohit Sharma went on to make his ODI and Test debuts in 2007 and 2013. In fact, He made his international debut in the ODI series against Ireland, but was not successful. However, Rohit Sharma’s big turning point of his career came when he was promoted to open the innings in the 2013 Champions Trophy match against South Africa.
After Rohit Sharma struggled to cement his place in the India’s ODI squad due to his inconsistent performances in the middle-order, then captain MS Dhoni decided to promote him as an opener as an experimentation. This turned out to be a masterstroke as he played an innings of 65 off 81 balls and formed a 127-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan, laying a foundation for India’s win and marked the beginning of Rohit’s golden run as a top-order batter.
Following his successful 2013 Champions Trophy campaign, where Rohit Sharma aggregated 177 runs, including 2 fifties, at an average of 35.40 in 5 matches, the right-handed batter cemented his place in the Indian team as an opener for the next decade.
Sharma is currently the seventh leading run-getter as an opener across all formats of the game, amassing 15585 runs, including 44 centuries and 80 fifties, at an average of 45.17 in 359 matches. Majority of his success as an opener came in the ODI format, aggregating 9138 runs, including 30 centuries and 45 fifties, at an average of 54.71 in 186 matches.
