It looks like Rohit Sharma is here to stay. At the age of 37, he is neither a spring chicken but then definitely not a spent force (in any which way).
And yet, at that time in his career where he is neither getting younger nor appearing much like a laggard, Rohit is scaling milestones.
Having said that, if you happened to miss any recent ones, it is worth mentioning some here. Good players scale milestones more often than not.
But legends scale multiple milestones in the wake of a single knock or inning. Which is precisely what Rohit Gurunath Sharma achieved a few hours back in North America in his Indian team’s big 2024 T20 World Cup opener.
As the courageous and stylish right hander got going in the ongoing World Cup courtesy a typically fluent and destructive knock of 52, which off merely 37 odd deliveries, Rohit Sharma not only fired an opening salvo in the major ICC campaign. He became a headlining act by scaling two precious milestones.
First- and it’s a proper landmark of a great T20 player- Sharma became the only batsman in world cricket to hit 600 sixes in the sport’s shortest, if also dominant format. Make no mistake that famed icons such as De Villiers, Gayle, Maxwell, Pollard, bravo, Russell, and Rohit’s compatriot Virat Kohli himself have been playing the format for a while now.
And second in his explosive fifty-plus knock that quite simply grounded Ireland to the dust, Rohit Sharma became only the third batsman ever to go past 4,000 T20 international runs.
Two of the other men to have reached the envy-inspiring landmark before the marathon man from Mumbai happen to be Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, which makes for elite company really. But having said that, June 5, wasn’t just about Rohit Sharma’s blazing batting alone; it was also a day that was rather memorable giving his sterling captaincy.
As India eventually went on to crush Ireland by a margin of 8 wickets with nearly 7.3 overs to spare, Rohit Sharma, the captain, climbed yet another milestone and it was a rather special one at that.
No other captain prior to Rohit has managed to claim as many wins as the famed right hander who now has to his credit no fewer than 42 victories in the T20I format. This makes him the most successful captain from the indian contingent; surely a feat that the great Dhoni would marvel at. Wouldn’t he?
But that told, well begun is only half the task completed. India and its sensational captain Rohit ought to remember that the business end of the tournament is far from arriving just yet and that there’s still a long way to go. India are poised in a challenging and exciting group where not only do they face Pakistan in what could arguably be the biggest game of the mega ICC tournament but they’d also find some spirited competition from the end of Canada and USA.
While truth be told, India’s critics may have a point in suggesting that the current side, despite having several match winners, tends to still rely a great deal on the dynamic duo of Sharma and Kohli.
Source- SportsKeeda
But at the end of the day, when you have two of the best batsmen in the world wearing a common jersey and united by a singular vision of enabling India to further glory in the World Cup, one can’t underestimate the importance of such talismanic batters, isn’t it?
Rohit has, beyond doubt, come a long way. For someone who played every single edition of the T20I World Cup, Rohit’s batting is as dazzling as his redoubtable experience. But it is about time all of these assets that he and Kohli bring to the fore come to fruition.
The last that India actually won the coveted T20I crown, Rohit was an ambitious youngster and someone whose best days lay ahead of him. Today; he’s a a giant of the game but one whose hands are yet to behold with much joy the mighty World Cup crown.
With India’s bowlers, whether Arshdeep, Chahal, Kuldeep or Bumrah in such fine rhythm not to forget some ballsy batting talent that’s been boosted by Pant’s return, could the 2024 campaign be Rohit’s moment of unparalleled joy?