Rohit Sharma has come a long way in ODI cricket to become one of the great batters in the format as he will be leading the Indian team in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home.
Rohit, who knocked on the doors for selection at a very young age alongside the likes of Virat Kohli, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, and others, came into the Indian setup around 2007.
In 2007, when he was not yet 20, Rohit Sharma was a likely option to be included in India’s World Cup squad. But at the very last minute, the selectors and team think-tank backed out from making that bold call. The team think-tank at the time was led by then-captain Rahul Dravid.
That year, India’s World Cup campaign ended in disaster, as they did not make the second round and all hell broke loose in the country.
Rohit went on to feature in India's successful campaign at the T20 World Cup the same year in South Africa as the Men in Blue went on to lift the title under the leadership of MS Dhoni.
Between 2007 and 2011, Rohit was one of the many young players tried out by Dhoni and the head coach Gary Kirsten to make up for the combination.
The upcoming players including Virat, Rohit, and others were expected to be the torchbearers for the coming generation. But just on the eve of the 2011 World Cup, Sharma was dropped for the World Cup.
The career-changing instance for Rohit took place in 2013 in England during the ICC Champions Trophy when Dhoni asked him to open the innings for the team in the tournament.
Rohit, who had batted in the different positions in the middle till then accepted the challenge and went on to create a big name in the tournament.
Rohit along with Shikhar Dhawan put up a show as an opening pair as India went on to lift the title beating England in the final.
The Indian team decided to continue with the same opening pair as they started achieving more feats, helping India to do well in the white-ball cricket.
The trio of Rohit, Shikhar, and Virat became one of the lethal top-order players in world cricket as they made it to the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia.
They played their part but India were nocked of the semifinals with Australia lifting the title at their home. Rohit smashed a hundred in that world cup that came against Bangladesh in the quarterfinal.
Finally, in the 2019 ODI World Cup, Sharma batted like a dream, scoring five hundreds that led India all the way to the semifinal. Sharma’s amazing run of scores helped India knock over almost everyone during the tournament.
His career was back on track across all three formats and in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sharma was winning titles galore as captain of the Mumbai Indians.
Rohit met a new challenge in his career when he started his full-time tenure as Indian captain in 2022, also leading India at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The campaign ended in disaster and the debate started once again.
India captained India in the World Test Championship as well which India lost against Australia and in the Asia Cup 2023 as well, leading the team to a victory, a few weeks before the ODI World Cup at home.
His enormous moment came as he was confirmed to be leading the side in the showpiece event at home with all those ups and downs becoming worth it as India eye a title win after 12 years.
Rohit, who was destined for big achievements in his career when he first burst onto the scene in 2006, the 2023 World Cup campaign brings the best opportunity to show the world just why he was always rated so highly even during his early days.
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He will be teaming up with his first captain Dravid, who almost gave him a break at the 2007 World Cup. Dravid probably missed the prodigious Sharma in the 2007 campaign but will be there for him as the head coach.
Now 16 years on, can both makeup for the lost time? That is the big question as India began their campaign of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia in Chennai on Sunday.