Why rampant Rohit Sharma started off his Test career late?

Team India’s top-order batsman, Rohit Sharma has been on the role particularly in the limited-overs cricket for the national side by collecting runs at will and has the knack of playing longer innings. However, in the ‘Breakfast with Champions’ episode, he revealed why had waited for three-long years to don the white jersey for the national side for what he had worked hard as a youngster.

Interestingly, the 30-year-old Rohit was scheduled to make the Test debut at his home ground, but unfortunately, it was not in his fate way back in February 2010 against touring South Africa when he injured his left foot.

(Read Also: Rohit Sharma Shares the Experience When He Met Ritika For the First Time)

When the BwC host Gaurav Kapoor asked him what was the reason behind the passion of playing football on the ground while adding ‘it jeopardized your debut as well. Didn’t it?

“Actually, I want to clear that, it was the rocket ball, but not a football and that was used for the passing during the training,” Gaurav responded to Kapoor in BwC programme.

Moreover, Rohit went on to make his Test debut at number six position after little over three years when he faced Windies at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata which was played between November 6 and 8 2013.

In his maiden Test innings, Rohit smashed 177 runs before India won the match by an innings and 51 runs.

“The warm-up game ‘training’ was over and our trainer Paddy Upton threw the ball up in the air and I don’t know what actually happened to me that day when my left-foot fall on the foot of Wriddhiman Saha, who was there (to catch the ball) before it twisted when I also tried to catch the ball,” Rohit explained.

Rohit, who has been brilliant with the bat and known for effortless shots, is currently on the national duty as stand-in skipper in the ongoing Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka at home.

Rohit remarked he was pushing to play the debut game under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni even twisting his left foot.

“I was emotionally involved in the game, I told that ‘I will play the match, no matter what’ and ‘I could play on with the one leg what would want to skip the debut game?’ I was too young and the team physio told me: ‘it will swell more in the evening’,” Rohit maintained.

In the second match against Lanka at Indore, Rohit smashed joint-fastest hundred off 35 deliveries in T20I cricket with South African David Miller.

(Read Further: Mahendra Singh Dhoni – The falcon of Indian Cricket)

Rohit revealed it was the worst phase to miss out on the debut game some seven years ago, but with the team, he felt it was the learning curve while adding it has been an awful experience.

“So, it was a quite bad (experience). I couldn’t walk. I remember putting my feet into the bucket full of ice everyday and every two hours I had to do that. That’s how you take down the swelling. It was too painful and I felt bad about that,” Rohit concluded.

Rohit featured 174 One-day Internationals and in which he subsequently made his top-flight debut against Ireland at Belfast in June 2007.

So far, Rohit played 23 Tests in which he amassed 1,401 runs at an average of 42.45. He smashed three hundreds and nine fifties, as his highest score is still his debut innings.