Rohit Sharma

On December 13, 2015, Rohit Sharma married his friend, manager, and girlfriend of six years, Ritika Sajdeh, to whom he was first introduced by senior player Yuvraj Singh in 2008. They live in their 4-BHK apartment in Ahuja Towers, Worli, Mumbai.

Rohit Gurunath Sharma was born on April 30, 1987 in Bansod, Nagpur, Maharashtra, to Gurunath Sharma, the caretaker of a storehouse for a transport firm, and Purnima Sharma. As his father’s earnings were insufficient to raise him and his younger brother Vishal, he grew up with his grandparents and uncles in the western Mumbai suburb of Borivli and visited his parents every weekend.

At the age of eight, he became interested in cricket and managed to convince his uncle to give him Rs.200 to attend a coaching camp led by Dinesh Lad. Seeing his potential, Lad, who also coached at Swami Vivekanand International School which had better cricketing facilities, told him to switch to that school.

Upon learning that his uncle could not afford to pay for his fees there, Lad arranged for a four-year sports scholarship for the talented boy and encouraged the off-spin bowler to open as a batsman. He subsequently scored a century on his debut as an opener during the Harris and Giles Shield school cricket tournaments.

Rohit Sharma made his domestic cricket debut for West Zone in their Deodhar Trophy match against Central Zone at Gwalior in March 2005. During the same tournament, he gained attention for scoring an unbeaten 142 in 123 balls against North Zone at Udaipur.

He was selected for the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy and also made into the list of 30 probable for the Champions Trophy even before his Ranji debut, but failed to make into the final squad. His First-class debut for India A was against New Zealand A, at Darwin in July 2006, followed by his Ranji debut for Mumbai in the 2006-07 season, during which he scored a double-century against Gujarat.

Rohit Sharma made his ODI debut against Ireland at Belfast during India’s tour in 2007, but did not get a chance to bat in the match. The same year, he earned the ‘Man of the Match’ award for leading India to victory with an unbeaten 50 off 40 balls against South Africa in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 on September 20, 2017.

He was selected for the 2007–08 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia thanks to his maiden ODI half-century against Pakistan at Jaipur on 18 November 2007. In Australia, he scored two more half-centuries, including a 66 in the 1st final at Sydney during India’s successful run chase.

A series of bad performances cost him his middle-order position in the team, and even a triple-century in Ranji could not secure him a place in the playing eleven during India’s Bangladesh tour in 2009. He even failed to utilize his test debut opportunity after being selected in place of injured V. V. S. Laxman in February 2010, as he injured himself playing football during the warm-up session.

While he scored two back-to-back centuries against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka during the tri-series in May 2010, poor form in South Africa cost him a place in the Indian squad for 2011 World Cup. Upon his return against West Indies in 2011, he secured his first ‘Man of the Series’ honor for his two half-centuries, including a matching-winning 86 off 91 balls after India were down to 92-6.

Due to his good form, he was promoted to open with Shikhar Dhawan for the Champions Trophy in 2013, following which the duo built an exceptional rapport and led India to many series wins. On a personal level, he scored 209 runs off 158 balls against Australia in Bangalore and broke the world record for most sixes hit in an ODI innings with 16 sixes.