maniac Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Beads of sweat ran down Rohit Sharma's temples on the weary Friday afternoon of March 11, 2011 as he sat in the team bus to leave for a training session on the eve of an important game. But Sharma wasn't in Nagpur. Instead, he was 500 km away in Hyderabad, warming up for Mumbai's pre-quarterfinal clash against Haryana in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Around 12 kg overweight, chubbier than a cricketer his age would've liked to be, his next immediate task was to bat his team into the last eight of the domestic Twenty20 tournament. The task of tackling South Africa in the World Cup match rested on the shoulders of 15 others who had impressively made the cut back then. Sharma wasn't one of them. In the months leading to the 2011 Cup, Sharma had been going through one of his rough patches yet again, an unsolicited trait that had wedged into his international career since debut. A single half-century in 17 ODIs, the last five in South Africa yielding only 49 runs, had put the lid on his World Cup selection. For all the decade-long accolades of being a 'naturally gifted cricketer' and 'supremely talented batsman', all it took was one selection committee meeting to reintroduce him to reality. And it hurt. Early morning local trains from faraway Dombivili - a distant Mumbai suburb - to the many maidans of the city and back home highlighted Sharma's upbringing in the game like hundreds of others who've struggled while playing cricket. Yet, what made Sharma stand apart was his batting, way superior to those hundreds of Mumbai youngsters and thousands across the country who weren't born with the same gift as him. That his family had to go through financial stress so that he could play cricket is well documented, perhaps as neatly as his growing indulgences once he started earning from the game. It's clear the only moment Rohit was left a pauper was when he missed the World Cup berth. "I clearly remember we were in Indore for a T20 game when the World Cup was on," recalls Nayar. "He had put on a lot of weight and was clearly depressed. I clicked a picture of his and gave it to him, reminding him what he'd been doing to himself." In those few weeks though, Rohit changed. "The World Cup miss gave him such a huge reality check that in a rare admission, even with friends, he said, 'this is it. I'm going to change myself'." Nayar says those who'd like to see the difference that single resolution made should look at Rohit's videos and pictures from the IPL that followed the World Cup. "Look at how he was before the World Cup and after. I've never seen Rohit so committed, waking up early mornings, spending more time at trainings, understanding flaws. He knew he had to start all over again," he says. The 2015 World Cup begins in two weeks and Rohit finds himself armed with the responsibility of leading India's batting arsenal. The only batsman to have scored two double hundreds in the 50-over format, he's gone back from being a pauper to king. What he does about it this time around will rewrite the chapter of a very talented young man who has a few scores to settle inside his own mind. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/top-stories/Rohit-Sharma-Coming-to-terms-with-talent/articleshow/46104361.cms Just some excerpts from a fantastic article :hatsoff:
maniac Posted February 3, 2015 Author Posted February 3, 2015 I bolded the entire article because everything stated here is a highlight....I removed some important points as per the new site rules but ,Abhishek Nayar one of the finest allrounders in domestic circuit pays a fitting tribute
Magneto Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Interestingly, four years have passed and Rohit is still there only. Done nothing for Team India excepting scoring 2 dead-rubber ODI 200s.
Old guy Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 I bolded the entire article because everything stated here is a highlight....I removed some important points as per the new site rules but ' date='Abhishek Nayar one of the finest allrounders in domestic circuit pays a fitting tribute[/quote'] :nice:
Sidhoni Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Nice article. Tells us about thw behind the scenes reactions to selection committee meetings.
Number Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Interestingly' date=' four years have passed and Rohit is still there only. Done nothing for Team India excepting scoring 2 dead-rubber ODI 200s.[/quote'] One of them was in the decider of ODI series against Aus. You were hyping him saying he scores in important matches unlike Kohli. :giggle:
maniac Posted February 3, 2015 Author Posted February 3, 2015 Interestingly' date=' four years have passed and Rohit is still there only. Done nothing for Team India excepting scoring [b']2 dead-rubber ODI 200s. No one even remembers who won or lost the series....Series 1 will be remembered for a fantastic 200 and series 2 will be remembered for the highest ODI score and the 2nd highest List A score of all time...also to add most 6's hit in a ODI game FIne even if you argue there-He is an elite group to have scored 2 back to back hundreds on debut...that was the 2nd most memorable thing about the series apart from being SRT's farewell. A Cycle Aggarbatthi award in an overseas tri series triumph. India's most reliable batsman in C.T-Critics have hailed that his contribution in negating the new ball was a major contributor. A back to the wall 60 in Nzl which was probably the toughest pitch we played on all our overseas tours when others around him were falling like 9 pins. Took 2 wickets in back to back tests playing in an unenviable 5th bowler role. In free time during off-season which is the IPL just went and won the IPL as well as Champions league as a captain and being the team's MVP. phew that was busy 4 years don't you think. Honble mention-The 138 in the Carlton series and being our best T20I batsman
Magneto Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 One of them was in the decider of ODI series against Aus. You were hyping him saying he scores in important matches unlike Kohli. :giggle: Well, hyping him didn't work, did it? :giggle: I think one important match where he scored was the T20 WC in 2007. And in the CB series too. So we have about 5 important knocks in a career of 8 years? :hmmm:
Magneto Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 No one even remembers who won or lost the series....Series 1 will be remembered for a fantastic 200 and series 2 will be remembered for the highest ODI score and the 2nd highest List A score of all time...also to add most 6's hit in a ODI game FIne even if you argue there-He is an elite group to have scored 2 back to back hundreds on debut...that was the 2nd most memorable thing about the series apart from being SRT's farewell. A Cycle Aggarbatthi award in an overseas tri series triumph. India's most reliable batsman in C.T-Critics have hailed that his contribution in negating the new ball was a major contributor. A back to the wall 60 in Nzl which was probably the toughest pitch we played on all our overseas tours (:hysterical:) when others around him were falling like 9 pins. Took 2 wickets in back to back tests playing in an unenviable 5th bowler role. In free time during off-season which is the IPL just went and won the IPL as well as Champions league as a captain and being the team's MVP. phew that was busy 4 years don't you think. Honble mention-The 138 in the Carlton series and being our best T20I batsman :cantstop: Yeah two 200s (which statistically are great achievements and will be the only reason he will be remembered for) and a bit of IPL. But IPL is not kirkut, is it? :winky: I was talking about doing anything significant in Indian colours. His first Test century was good though. Scored the last 50 runs with the 11th man.
maniac Posted February 3, 2015 Author Posted February 3, 2015 :cantstop: Yeah two 200s (which statistically are great achievements and will be the only reason he will be remembered for) and a bit of IPL. But IPL is not kirkut, is it? :winky: I was talking about doing anything significant in Indian colours. His first Test century was good though. Scored the last 50 runs with the 11th man. He is our best performers in T20's...well even if you don't respect the format. Not everything has to be a 100 or in Rohit's case a 200. His innings in C.T and the Tri series that followed were very good,not his usual glamorous stroke play but in the context of the conditions were very good. Tests i agree he needs a little bit of time,but from the last test in the Aus series,seems to be figuring out how to play in this format too.
Number Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Well, hyping him didn't work, did it? :giggle: I think one important match where he scored was the T20 WC in 2007. And in the CB series too. So we have about 5 important knocks in a career of 8 years? :hmmm: An ODI series vs Aus isn't totally worthless and that was the last and decider game of the series. Asia cup innings against Pakistan 2012 and 2014. And some of CT innings.
maniac Posted February 3, 2015 Author Posted February 3, 2015 An ODI series vs Aus isn't totally worthless and that was the last and decider game of the series. Asia cup innings against Pakistan 2012 and 2014. And some of CT innings. True...espcially when we haven't won a ODI series against them at home in a while.....That was a big deal.
Magneto Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 He is our best performers in T20's...well even if you don't respect the format. Not everything has to be a 100 or in Rohit's case a 200. His innings in C.T and the Tri series that followed were very good,not his usual glamorous stroke play but in the context of the conditions were very good. Tests i agree he needs a little bit of time,but from the last test in the Aus series,seems to be figuring out how to play in this format too. His problem always is he takes too much time to figure out. And at the end, he will perform in two odd tournaments out of a hundred. Don't know what he has done in international T20s too barring his first tournament. Highest score is 79* (a knock that I remember) in 35 matches. Averages 30 in comparison to Kohli's 46. His averages suck in all forms of the game.
Magneto Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 An ODI series vs Aus isn't totally worthless and that was the last and decider game of the series. Asia cup innings against Pakistan 2012 and 2014. And some of CT innings. Yeah. As they say, you remember great players by their failures and average players by the few successful knocks they are played. It is actually sad that a couple of regular 50s on flat tracks have become important points on his CV. Not that he was even the highest scorer or something in these matches. Just goes on to show how crap he has actually been.
Number Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Yeah. As they say' date=' you remember great players by their failures and average players by the few successful knocks they are played.[/quote'] Agree. He is just about average. Not in the league of any greats.
Pagalpanti Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Every time, every fricken time he gets hyped up and then follows a string of failures. I've given up on Rohit getting consistent, I'll still take him though. Even if he's just average on his day he'll win you games. Better than the likes of Rayadu
Texy Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Coming to terms with talent :hysterical: :giggle:
SLICKR392 Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Interestingly' date=' four years have passed and Rohit is still there only. Done nothing for Team India excepting scoring 2 dead-rubber ODI 200s.[/quote'] And how many such articles in these 4 years? Lol! The guy is a myth.
Lord Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 And how many such articles in these 4 years? Lol! The guy is a myth. Didnt you quit cricket talk?:hmmm:
SLICKR392 Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Didnt you quit cricket talk?:hmmm: I'm sorry. Bye :((
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