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'Rohit's turning point was 10 years ago when...': Rahul Dravid's incredible tribute on India captain's historic day
Initially a bit startled, coach Rahul Dravid acknowledged the slice of history and paid a glorious tribute to India captain Rohit Sharma.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Rohit Sharma is easily one of the greatest cricketers produced in the history of Indian cricket. The only batter to hit three double-centuries in ODIs – no other players has scored even two – Rohit has been at the top of his game for the last 10 years. Starting off as a middle-order batter, the first few years of Rohit's career were underwhelming, more so given the insurmountable talent that he had. Despite winning the T20 World Cup back in 2007, Rohit's career left a lot to be desired and his future was under scrutiny once an injured led to him missing the 2011 World Cup.
However, little did Rohit and the world knew that two years later, Rohit's career would be injected with a second win when MS Dhoni made him the designated opener of the Indian team. Opening the innings with Shikhar Dhawan, India rode on the success of this pair for almost next 10 years. Rohit's career peaked and he reached batting nirvana in 2019, when he became the first batter to score five centuries in a single edition of a World Cup. Many feel that the journey of Rohit the opener began during the 2013 Champions Trophy, but the truth is that the first time he opened for India was in January 18 in South Africa.
Having said that, another Rohit trivia that took India head coach Rahul Dravid by surprise on the eve of the 3rd ODI between India and New Zealand on Tuesday was the fact that it was on January 23, 2013 – exactly 10 years ago, that Rohit opened for the first time on home soil. Initially a bit startled, Dravid acknowledged the slice of history and paid a glorious tribute to the India captain.
"He has been a phenomenal cricketer for India. He obviously started off as this really prodigious talent. I remember seeing him for the first time at 17-18 or something. He had just come out of Under-19 but you could see that you were looking at slightly different here. And he has gone on to prove that. You look at a lot of kids who look different at 19 but not all of them go on to achieve that potential. I think what Rohit has done over the last 15 years, he has actually achieved his potential and is really been a great servant in Indian cricket. Has done really well," Dravid said during the press conference.
Rohit's record as opener is that of epic proportions. In fact, after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, Rohit is the third-highest run-getter by an India opener in ODIs with 7663 runs. Furthermore, all of Rohit's four T20I centuries have come while opening. Also, the Rohit-Dhawan pair is the most successful Indian opening combination after Tendulkar-Ganguly with the star duo piling 5148 runs with 18 century and 15 fifty-plus partnerships and the fourth-highest overall. Dravid
"Obviously in some ways, for him, the turning point was 10 years ago when he got the opportunity to finally open and then his hallmark has been his performance in big ICC tournaments. We saw in 2019 but also his ability to score big runs when he gets going. Someone who has got three double hundreds in this format, it is a phenomenal achievement," added Dravid.
"He has been pretty successful and he is someone who has got that kind of game - he has got an all-round game. You can't think of a kind of bowling that you can bowl to him that when he is playing well, you can keep him quiet. It's not like you can bowl fast or short to him, he will take you down. Takes on spinner, plays swing well. He has got a complete game. He has been batting really well. in the last few games, it's been terrific to watch. Great to have him playing the way he is and leading the side."
