From Getting 'Overboard' To 'Just Enjoying His Game' Rohit Sharma Recalls His Cricket Journey Thus Far

Rohit Sharma has impinged himself in the cricketing folklore as one of the greatest white-ball batsmen to have ever played the game. And, he has done that through sheer hard, unrelenting desire to be the best version of himself and of-course outrageous skills.

Sharma burst on the scene as a prodigiously talented 20-year-old in 2007 and he made turns almost immediately during his maiden international innings [vs South Africa, WTT20 2007] as he successfully countered the likes of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel on a spiteful pitch to set the platform for an eventual victory.

Three months later, Rohit Sharma was involved in a match-winning partnership with Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the first final of the CB series in Australia. Following his exploits, Sharma was earmarked as the next big thing in Indian cricket. But the pressure of rising expectations eventually got to the youngster as inconsistency crept in his batting, paving way for him to miss out from India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

Rohit Sharma recalled his first few years in international cricket during the 1st episode of India Today Inspiration 02, where he revealed how he got ‘overboard’ with his dwindling returns.

“I started thinking that going overboard is not going to take me anywhere. I thought I needed to do a lot more, was forgetting the basics of cricket, and I was focussed a lot more on the technical faults in my batting. But it was all about going out and having fun as well that’s why I think the first half of my career was all about taking pressure and going through tough times. Not doing the right things, not being disciplined about how I wanted to bat,” Rohit Sharma said.

“At some point you have to go away from all that and start enjoying the game more. While I was doing all of that, I was not enjoying the game that much. I forgot how to enjoy the game. It was my own realisation that got me to think. It’s your own battle that you have to fight and find ways to do it,” he added.

Also Read- Rohit Sharma Credits Ricky Ponting For Teaching Him To Put His Teammates Before Himself

‘Enjoying the best phase of my life’- Rohit Sharma

The turning point of Rohit Sharma’s career came in mid-2013, first when he was asked to lead the Mumbai Indians and secondly when MS Dhoni promoted him up the order in white-ball cricket.

Since, then Rohit Sharma has gone on to unleash his ‘Hitman’ moniker to the entire world by churning out 100s and double-hundreds [3] on a consistent basis. Sharma has broken a plethora of white-ball records in the past seven years, none better than his record five 100s in the 2019 World Cup. As far as the IPL is concerned, Rohit is the most successful captain in the history of the league, having led his side to four titles. Needless to say, the ‘Hitman’ is having the time of his life both on and off the field.

“Yeah you can say that probably the best time of my life in terms of what I do on and off the field. Enjoying each and every moment provided in front of me. The sport is something that once you start enjoying you feel so relaxed and comfortable in whatever you do,” he said.

“I have started enjoying all that a lot more. I was taking too much pressure earlier thinking about my game a lot than I should be thinking. Everything was overboard so I wanted to balance all that out,” Rohit Sharma said.

Rohit is currently leading the Mumbai Indians in the 13th season of the IPL and he has already made his presence felt with the bat, courtesy a sumptuous 54-ball 80 against KKR.