Such is the beauty of cricket that things come full circle in the strangest of ways. As the Indian cricket team ushers into a new era, with Rohit Sharma as captain of the T20I team and Rahul Dravid as their coach, the mind harks back to the year 2007. Under Dravid, India were facing South Africa in three ODIs in Ireland when a young and promising 20-year-old Rohit made his debut for India.
On the eve of the first T20I between India and New Zealand, as Rohit and Dravid addressed their first press conference together, the India captain gave his side of the story when reminded about his international debut in the presence of stalwarts like Dravid in the dressing room.
"It was way back in 2007 when I was selected, but the first time I had the opportunity to interact with him was in Bangalore at a camp. It was a very brief chat and I was actually kind of very nervous and I never used to talk so much even with my age group people so leave alone these guys at that point," Rohit said.
"So, I was just quietly doing my things and getting a move on with my game. But yeah, in Ireland the first time when he came and told me that you will be playing this game. I was over the moon that, obviously felt like a dream to be part of the dressing room. It's been a long way since then. I have cherished all the moments that I've spent playing for India and also for my franchise, Mumbai Indians. And we look forward to many more."
{{/usCountry}}"So, I was just quietly doing my things and getting a move on with my game. But yeah, in Ireland the first time when he came and told me that you will be playing this game. I was over the moon that, obviously felt like a dream to be part of the dressing room. It's been a long way since then. I have cherished all the moments that I've spent playing for India and also for my franchise, Mumbai Indians. And we look forward to many more."
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The Rohit-Rahul pair have a long checklist in front of them, the most important of which is to lead India to an ICC trophy, and make no mistake about it that this dynamic pair has what it takes to end India's eight-year-long title drought, and the journey starts Wednesday evening at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.