Had Difficulty In Facing Brett Lee, Dale Steyn, Says Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma, another artist masquerading as a batsman, recently celebrated his 33rd birthday. One of the most charismatic batsman of the current era, Rohit Sharma has impinged his name in the cricketing folklore as one of the greatest white-ball batsman of all times.

One of the most striking things of Rohit’s batting is the amount of time he seems to have against the fastest of bowlers. But even the great man himself had a few problems while tackling genuine fast bowling when he started playing for India, the charismatic opener recently revealed in a freewheeling chat with Mohammed Shami on Instagram.

Rohit made his International debut way back in 2007 when the likes of Brett Lee and Dale Steyn were at the height of their powers and Sharma had no hesitation in naming the duo as someone whom he struggled against initially.

“When I came into the side, the fastest bowler in the world used to be Brett Lee. In my debut ODI series, I went to Ireland to face South Africa, and Dale Steyn was pretty quick then as well. When I started playing, I really liked Lee and Steyn, I had difficulties in facing them as well,” Rohit told Shami during the Instagram Live session

When asked about the current lot of bowlers that he rates very highly, the Indian opener went on to name South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada for his searing pace and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood for his immaculate line and length.

“From the current lot, (Kagiso) Rabada is a good bowler, I really like Josh Hazelwood as well, he bowls with great discipline,” Rohit further added.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma Recalls When He Missed Out On 200 In A T20I Match

Rohit Sharma started his career in grand fashion in 2007

Coming back to his career, Rohit’s debut game was against South Africa during the 2007 World T20 in Durban. And, in his very first game, the Mumbaikar gave an account of his prodigious talent when he successfuly countered the likes of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini on a seaming track in Durban.

Coming in to bat at 3-33, Rohit showed maturity beyond his years to post an unbeaten half-century and along with MS Dhoni, took India to an eventual match-winning total of 5-153.

Rohit then went on to feature in another match-winning stand with Sachin Tendulkar in the 2008 CB series final against the likes of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, where he once again gave us a glimpse of what was going to become a regular feature in the future.

Also Read: Where Rohit Sharma Is Today, Its Credit Goes To MS Dhoni: Gautam Gambhir

Watch Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami’s interaction here: