• Source:JND
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India ODI captain Rohit Sharma, known for his calm and exquisite leadership qualities on the field, dismissed the notion of the naturally gifted talent tag in cricket.

Rohit, who recently stunned the world of cricket with his sudden Test retirement, asserted that success stems from hard work, not from innate abilities.

The 38-year-old right-handed batter disregarded the label of “naturally gifted” in a brutally simple manner.

“Beekar hai (It's useless),” Rohit said in an interview with senior journalist Vimal Kumar, as quoted by The Times Of India.

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“Nothing comes naturally. To appear effortless takes a lot of effort. People don’t see the hard work behind what looks ‘natural’. Whether it’s being a player or a leader, it all comes from hours of work, not magic. I myself started out as a bowler,” he added.

Rohit has proven his mettle in white-ball cricket with 11,168 runs in 273 ODIs and a record-high score of 264. The star batter led India to the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy triumphs, strengthening his legacy one of the top leader of the game.

Recently, the 38-year-old on May 7 called time on his red-ball career with immediate effect, bringing the curtains to a remarkable journey. Having already stepped away from T20 Internationals after leading India to World Cup glory last year, the 38-year-old will now focus solely on captaining the ODI side.

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Over 11 years, he featured in 67 Tests, smashing 4,301 runs with 12 centuries, with a top score of 212 which he scored against South Africa in 2019.

The highlight of Rohit's Test captaincy was without doubt India reaching the final of the World Test Championship in 2023, losing to Australia eventually. It was the same year in which the team lost in the final of the ODI World Cup as well, once again to Australia.