Thread by @bhaleraosarang

Happy Birthday, Rohit Sharma.

The Hitman turns 33 & on his birthday here’s something special.

I’ll be posting 33 interesting stories, factoids & stats on Rohit.

So stay tuned.

@ImRo45

#HappyBirthdayRohit #happybirthdayrohitsharma

1. Rohit stayed in Dombivli with parents. Rohit shifted to Borivali & stayed with his grandparents & uncles. As his father was a sole breadwinner it was difficult to take care of 4 people on his low salary. Rohit would see his parents & young brother Vishal every weekend

2. Rohit loved cricket & his uncles chipped in with some money to enrol Rohit in a camp. Some of Rohit’s uncle’s friends paid the remaining amount. Coach Dinesh Lad liked Rohit’s action. He wanted Rohit to play for Swami Vivekananda International school. But there was a problem

3. The school fees was Rs. 275 per month & uncle Ravi told coach Lad that he couldn’t afford the fees. Director of SVIS, Mr Yogesh Patel waived off Rohit’s fees. Thus Rohit’s career began
He was an off-break bowler who batted mostly at No.8

4. Lad worked on Rohit’s batting and soon he got a century in the Giles Shield. He scored big hundreds. Rohit was part of the Samna Trophy but didn’t get a game. Even in the Mumbai selection tournaments, Rohit was warming the benches. But soon there came a turning point.

5. At 17, playing for NCA, Rohit got a century v Air India at Bengaluru. It was watched by Praveen Amre & Dilip Vengsarkar. Rohit Scored 88 v Indian Airlines in QF of KSCA MRF Trophy in 2004/05. Soon Rohit was one of the most talked about young batsmen in India.

6. Vengsarkar was the Chairman of the Board’s Talent Resources Development Team & Amre was the Chairman of the Junior selection committee. They were impressed with Rohit, who was part of the India Under-19 team. Rohit’s batting class caught the eye of even former players.

7. Rohit was part of the India Under-19 World Cup in 2006. He scored 205 runs in 6 innings with three 50s.
Rohit wanted a jersey no. before the WC. Astrologer suggested 9, Rohit didn’t want single digit. He wanted 19 (it wasn’t available).His mom suggested No.45(it adds upto 9)

8. After the WC, Rohit was part of the West Zone team for the Deodhar Trophy. On his debut v Central Zone, Rohit scored an invaluable 31 & guided his team to a 3-wicket win. In his 2nd List A game, Rohit Scored 142*(123) v North Zone against a quality attack. WZ won by 8 wickets

9. As part of the MCA XI, Rohit played warm-up games v international teams. He scored 61(69) v NZ & 41*(18) v Aus at the MIG Ground in Mumbai. Scored heavily in the CK Nayudu Trophy 2006/07 (U-22). Rohit was picked for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. Had played 4 FC games already.

10. In his 4th Ranji Trophy game, Rohit Scored his maiden double ton in FC cricket.
Mumbai beat Bengal in the Ranji Trophy final (2006/07). Rohit Scored 57 in the 2nd innings.
On April 4, 2007, Rohit became the 1st Indian to hit T20 Ton (v Guj at the CCI)

11. India got knocked out of the 2007 WC. Rohit got his maiden India call-up for the tour of Ireland & England. Rohit made his ODI debut v Ireland. He didn’t bat. Got 8 in his 1st ODI inns v SA. Didn’t play any game in England. Was part of the Indian team for the inaugural WT20

12. Rohit missed the first few games of WT20. All he needed was one opportunity. He spoke to coach Lad from SA & was quite determined. Made his T20I debut v England but he didn’t bat. In the next game v SA, Rohit made a name for himself. And a star was born

13. Yuvraj missed an important game v SA. Rohit walked in at 33-3 (6th over). He finished with 50*(40) as India reached 153. He ran out Kemp brilliantly. Scored a decisive 30*(16) in the final v Pakistan. India won the inaugural WT20. Rohit’s contributions were vital
@ImRo45

14. Rohit got his 1st ODI fifty v Pakistan in Jaipur. Got a consistent run in the CB Series in 2008. Scored 70* v SL & a crucial 66 in the 1st final v Australia. Added 123 runs for the 4th wicket with Sachin Tendulkar.
India won their first tri-series in Australia.

15. In February 2008, Deccan Chargers got Rohit Sharma for $750,000. That was huge. A few years earlier Rohit’s father was asked to leave his job but he wouldn’t stop going to the company. The Sharma family had seen such hard times.

16. In IPL 2008, Rohit Scored 404 runs with 4 fifties at a SR of 148. DC finished at the bottom of the table. In IPL 2009, DC won the title & Rohit Scored 362 runs. Played as a finisher

17. Rohit Sharma hit 100s in each innings of the 2008/09 Ranji Trophy final.

In the 2009/10 season, Rohit hit his maiden triple hundred in FC cricket (309* v Guj)

In 2010, Rohit was all set to make his Test debut but he injured himself during the warm-up. Was ruled out

18. In 2010, Rohit hit two back-to-back ODI tons in Zimbabwe. He scored just 49 runs in 5 innings v SA just before the WC. He fails to find a place in India’s 2011 WC squad. This is one of Rohit’s biggest disappointments. But this proved to be Rohit’s turning point as well.

19. Rohit wanted to lose body fat, improve his fitness & hence went for a strict diet. Abhishek Nayar & trainer Amogh Pandit moved to Rohit’s place in Bandra. He trained hard. Rohit lost around 8 kgs. He was hungry like never before. He was determined to perform well for India

20. Rohit scored 257 runs in 5-match ODI series in WI after WC & he’s Man of the series. He missed the England ODI series after playing just 1 ball. Had a finger injury. Was again Man of the Series in the ODI series v WI at home. Rohit Scored 305 runs in 5-match series

21. In 2012, Rohit Scored his first IPL Ton for MI at the Eden Gardens. Scored only 13 runs in 5 ODIs in SL but he’s persisted with. And the year 2013 was life-changing for Rohit. It was Rohit’s breakthrough season in many ways

22. In 2013, Rohit became MI skipper mid-way in the season. He led MI to their first IPL title. MI beat CSK in the final at the Eden Gardens.
At the Champions Trophy, MS Dhoni gives Rohit an opportunity to open. Scored 65 & 52 v SA & WI in CT 2013. Rohit as the opener was a hit

23. In the ODI series v Australia in 2013, Rohit scored 141* at Jaipur as India chased 360 losing 1 wkt.
At Bengaluru, Rohit Scored 209 — his 1st ODI double. Floor manager Priyadarshan Pardeshi called him a Hitman. Ravi Shastri picked it up. And thus Rohit has a nickname—Hitman

24. In November 2013, finally made his Test debut (v WI at the Eden Gardens). He scored 177 in Kolkata & 111* in Mumbai. He had moderate success as a Test batsman in series v SA, NZ & England. In 2014, Rohit scored 264 v SL at the Eden Gardens.This was his 2nd ODI double hundred

25. In WC 2015, Rohit scored 330 runs which included 137 v Bangladesh in the QF.
MI won their 2nd IPL title & Rohit was the Player of the Match in the final.
Rohit got engaged to Ritika Sajdeh on June 3, 2015.
On December 13, 2015, Rohit married Ritika at the Taj Land’s End.

26. In the 5-match ODI series v Australia, Rohit had scores of 171*, 124, 6, 41, 99. Scored two fifties in the 3-match T20 series.
In 2017, Rohit led @mipaltan to their third IPL title.
Rohit scored two fifties & a ton (v Bangladesh in SF) of CT 2017

27. Rohit became the India captain for the first time in the SL ODI series. On his second wedding anniversary, Rohit hit 208* — his third double century — v SL at Mohali. On reaching his double hundred, Rohit gave a flying kiss to Ritika, who got a little emotional

28. Rohit has a good record as India captain. He led India to a win in the Nidahas Trophy and the Asia Cup in 2018.
In 2019, MI won their 4th IPL title. Rohit has won most IPLs as a player (5) & as a captain (4)
@mipaltan @ImRo45

29. On December 30, 2018, Rohit became a father. Samaira was born in Mumbai & Rohit was playing a Test series in Australia that time. Rohit came back to Mumbai & missed the Sydney Test. Rohit went back to Australia for the ODI series

30. Rohit scored five tons in World Cup 2019 & finished a top run-getter.
His tons:
122* v SA
140 v Pak
102 v Eng
104 v Ban
103 v SL
Rohit scored three consecutive ODI tons (v Eng, Ban & SL)
Unfortunately India lost in the SF v NZ.
Rohit has a dream to win a 50-Over WC

31. In the Test series v SA, Rohit opened for the first time in Tests. His scores — 176 & 127 in Vizag (hundreds in each innings), 14 in Pune & 212 in Ranchi (his first double hundred in Tests).

Rohit in ODIs:

First 98 innings: 2 tons
Next 119 innings: 27 tons (as opener)

32. From 2013 till 2019 Rohit Sharma has the highest individual score in ODIs each season for India:

2013 — 209
2014 — 264
2015 — 150
2016 — 171*
2017 — 208*
2018 — 162
2019 — 159

Rohit as ODI opener:
Innings 138
Runs 7148
Avg 58.11
100s/50s 27/31

Most T20I tons — 4

33. Rohit launched a campaign to save Rhinos in India.

Recently he contributed ₹ 80 lakh to various relief funds to fight coronavirus pandemic.

#HappyBirthdayRohit

So this was Rohit Sharma’s journey captured in 33 tweets. From the time he moved out of his Dombivli home to now—when he’s one of the best cricketers.

Here’s my favourite picture of Rohit clicked by Devendra Pandey (@pdevendra) at the CCI in 2005

#HappyBirthdayHitman

@ImRo45