Rohit Sharma - An immortal in limited overs cricket.

"Sirf talent se kuch nahi hota" is what Rohit Sharma says everytime when someone relates him with the word 'talent'. It feels almost ironic that someone as talented and as gifted as Rohit Sharma doesn't believe in talent. May be he doesn't want to go over the moon and become overconfident and that's what it's all about, isn't it? Rohit Sharma of the late 2000s resembled a highly intelligent child who took things for granted and often left it for his brilliance to get them done. Whereas Rohit Sharma - post 2013 is a classic example of 'better late than never'.

    Despite being a slow starter in the first class circuit, Rohit got early breakthroughs in his career, the biggest being a place in the inaugural World T20 squad. Having made the most of the chances and helping India lift the trophy, Rohit had already made a name of himself. But apart from a good knock here and there, he was not playing to his full potential. On the way, he had to cope with probably the biggest setback of his career - omission from the World Cup squad. 

    Fast forward the clock and it was the end of May in 2013. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting had given up their leadership roles and Rohit Sharma was appointed to lead the Mumbai Indians. With his leadership skills, he led Mumbai Indians to their first IPL title. Most of us have very little idea about how success in one department can affect your overall game in a positive manner. Rohit Sharma was experiencing it first hand came the Champions Trophy in 2013. We all know that MS asked Rohit to open and the rest, as they say, is history. To put the aftermath of 2013 on numbers, Rohit has scored 27 of his 29 ODI hundreds including 3 double hundreds and crossing the 150 mark 8 times! There was a stat in 2018 which said that the average size of Rohit Sharma's hundred is 151. What does that mean? That means that Rohit Sharma doesn't score 100s, he scores 150s, simple! Barring Yuvraj Singh, I can't think of any Indian who can hit sixes as regularly and as easily as Rohit Sharma. Coming from the land of batters - Mumbai, a long time purveyors of classical batting, Rohit Sharma in some ways is an exception. There isn't a cricket fan who can say that Rohit Sharma isn't classical. He might be one of the most technically sound players in white ball cricket right now but he is extremely brutal and unorthodox at times which very unusual for a Mumbai batsman. But being a Mumbaikar, cricket runs through his veins and traits such as never giving up, putting price on his wicket and shrud batsmanship come naturally to him. Besides all this, Rohit Sharma is a batsman who is always good on the eye. You will never regret watching him bat. If Rohit makes 12 runs and plays 3 scoring shots, I bet you will remember all three of them in detail. He is so elegant and eye pleasing that people feel privileged to speak or write about him. 

    If given a choice to pick a batsman to bat for your mortgage on his day, only a handful of people will go for anybody else but Rohit Sharma. Because on his day, Rohit Sharma will give you 264. Anybody else will fall short of it. In other words, the probability of Rohit getting you a double is three time more than anyone else in the world. In simpler words, there is only one cricketer in the world who can be asked 'which one' of your double tons is your favourite!

    4 IPL trophies tell a lot about his leadership skills which are criminally underrated. He is someone who reads the game as well as anybody and can act and react sensibly without panic in situations of crisis. Nasser Hussain, a great admirer of Rohit's batsmanship always expresses great disappointment about Rohit's failure to cement a place in India's test team. It makes all of us go nuts but this is a topic for another day. Now that we have seen so much of Rohit Sharma and we already see him as a limited overs legend, yet we sometimes say that his best might be yet to come. That is a very frightening assertion in itself. 

- Durban 2007 made us notice.

- Sydney 2008 was promising.

- Harare 2010 implied belonging

- Kolkata 2013 hinted at a leader.

- Cardiff 2013 was a new beginning.

- Jaipur 2013 was worth the wait

- Bangalore 2013 was special.

- Kolkata 2014 was record breaking.

- Melbourne 2015 showed adaptability and determination.

- Dharamsala 2015 showed T20 genius

- Perth 2016 was magical.

- Hyderabad 2017 confirmed a great leader

- Colombo 2017 asserted dominance

- Mohali 2017 was supremacy.

- Indore 2017 displayed performance.

- Port Elizabeth 2018 showed the will to          bounce back.

- Lucknow 2018 was demolition.

- Sydney 2019 was exceptional.

- Hyderabad 2019 saw the most successful    leader in IPL history.

- Hampshire 2019 was a comeback.

- Edgebaston 2019 showed responsibility.

- Headingley 2019 was record breaking.

- Bangalore 2020 showed the hunger

- Summary - An ODI Legend is confirmed! 

We know that one of Rohit's regrets is not being included in the World Cup squad in 2011 and probably his greatest disappointment is losing to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup. Yet what he has achieved so far in his career gives him a special place in the history of limited overs cricket. If there is a book written on Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma will have a page all about himself. As Rohit turns 33, it's time we realise that he is heading into the twilight of his international career and applaude what he has done so far and what he is going to dish out, which I am sure is going to be entertaining.