India captain Rohit Sharma is one of the finest white-ball cricketers in the world. In addition, the Indian opener has also been one of the best Test batters for the team ever since he was promoted to open the batting in the game's longest format. He has left a life of scarce means far behind him and now enjoys a healthy and well-to-do lifestyle.
However, his former India teammate and someone whom he went on to play with for the Deccan Chargers in the inaugural IPL season before also sharing the dressing room with him in the Mumbai Indians, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has now made a huge claim with regards to the Hitman, recalling an initial conversation with him.
"When I first met Rohit in the U-15 national camp, everyone said he was a very special player. There, I played against him and took his wicket. Rohit was a typical Bombay guy who didn’t speak much but was aggressive when he played. In fact, I was very surprised as to why he was being so aggressive with me when we didn’t know each other! But after that our friendship began to grow,” Ojha recalled in an interview to Jio Cinema.
“He was from a middle-class family and I remember he once got emotional when we discussed how his budget for cricket kits was restricted. In fact, he also delivered milk packets – of course that was really a long time ago – so that he could buy his kit. Now when I see him, I feel very proud of how our journey started and where we reached,” Ojha added.
Rohit went on to make his India debut in 2007 and even though he kept getting in and out of the team and was left out of the India squad that won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, ever since he began opening the innings, he has been in a league of his own.
Having won five titles with the Mumbai Indians, Rohit showed his leaderships skills but had to wait for his chance to lead Team India and as the entire country waits for the Team to end their ICC title drought, the Hitman would hope to be the captain that lifts the World Cup trophy later this year.