Scott Styris backs Amit Mishra's colossal 'Rohit Sharma hasn't changed' claim

Former New Zealand National Cricket Team all-rounder Scott Styris has backed the claim made by the veteran Lucknow Super Giants leg-spinner Amit Mishra that the India National Cricket Team captain Rohit Sharma hasn't changed after getting the fame and is still the same person he was a decade ago.

Speaking on a podcast a few months back, Amit Mishra had made explosive claims on the modern-day greats Virat Kohli and Rohit. The leg-spinner had stated that Kohli changed with the fame, but that wasn't the case with Rohit, who remains humble despite being the captain of the Indian team.

Now, Scott Styris has made a similar type of statement on Rohit Sharma. Styris and Rohit played together in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the now-defunct Deccan Chargers. They were teammates in the 2008 and 2009 IPL seasons and won the championship together as well.

In a recent interaction, Scott Styris revealed that when he saw Rohit Sharma for the first time at Deccan Chargers he knew that the batter was special. He went on to reveal about his interaction with the Indian captain Rohit Sharma during the recent India tour of Sri Lanka 2024 and said that Rohit is still the same guy he was 16 years ago.

"It (IPL 2008) was my first opportunity to be a teammate and see (and hear of) Rohit Sharma. He was with us at the Deccan Chargers. He was 19 or 20 years old at that time and I could see then that this kid was something special. I've just come back from Sri Lanka where I commentated on India vs Sri Lanka, caught up with him there and he’s still the same guy that he was 16 years ago,” Styris told cricket.com.

Notably, India faced a shocking 0-2 defeat in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka on the tour. India fielded a full-strength line-up against the Lankan Lions but a poor show from the batters saw India losing the last two matches.

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The very first year we were actually favourites to win it and we came last - Scott Styris

Scott Styris further spoke about the Deccan Chargers and stated that they finished at the bottom despite having a star-studded team in the inaugural edition of IPL because of the poor balance in the squad.

“The very first year we were actually favourites to win it and we came last. Part of that was because we didn’t have a great balance. We had great names on paper but you’re only allowed to play four overseas players.”

"We’d either load up the batting and the bowling would be weak, or we’d load up the bowling and the batting would be weak. When we tried to load it up with all-rounders, we were a little bit bits-and-pieces and weren’t quite strong enough in any of them and ended up coming last," Scott Styris said.

However, the Deccan Chargers clinched the IPL trophy in 2009 by defeating the Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 6 runs at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, under the leadership of Adam Gilchrist. Rohit Sharma also played a key role in the win as he smashed 24 runs with the bat to help his side register a good total.

Talking further about Rohit Sharma, he will be next seen in action in the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh National Cricket Team at home, starting on September 19. After the series against Bangladesh, India under Rohit's leadership will host New Zealand for a three-match Test series, before travelling to Australia for the iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

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