Rohit Gurunath Sharma (born 30 April 1987) is an Indian international
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er and the current
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the
Indian cricket team. Widely considered as one of the best
opening batter
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...
of all time, he plays as a right-handed
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
for
Mumbai Indians in
IPL and for
Mumbai in domestic cricket. Rohit Sharma also captains Mumbai Indians in
IPL and the team has won 5 tittles under his leadership, most by any team.
Sharma currently holds the world record for the highest individual score (264) in a
One Day International (ODI) match and is the only player to have scored three
double-centuries in ODIs and also holds the record for scoring most hundreds (five) in a single
Cricket World Cup
The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...
, for which he won the
ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year award in 2019. Sharma has received two national honours, the
Arjuna Award
The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...
in 2015 and the prestigious
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2020.
Outside cricket, Sharma is an active supporter of
animal welfare campaigns. He is the official Rhino Ambassador for
WWF-India
World Wide Fund for Nature-India, better known by its abbreviation, WWF-India, has been devotedly working to protect and secure natural heritage and ecology for more than 50 years. It has an autonomous office, with the Secretariat based in New Del ...
and is a member of
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He has worked with PETA in its campaign to raise awareness of the plight of homeless cats and dogs in India.
Early life
Sharma was born on 30 April 1987 in Bansod,
Nagpur,
Maharashtra.
His mother, Purnima Sharma, is from
Visakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. His father, Gurunath Sharma, worked as a caretaker of a transport firm storehouse. Sharma was raised by his grandparents and uncles in
Borivali
Borivali (Pronunciation: oːɾiʋəliː is a suburb and is located at the north-western end of Mumbai and has a large Gujarati population followed by others. Traditionally the tribals and East Indians lived in Borivali.
The attractions incl ...
because of his father's low income. He would visit his parents, who lived in a single-room house in
Dombivli
Dombivli (Pronunciation: �oːmbiʋliː is a city in Thane district of Maharashtra, India. It is part of Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Geography
Dombivli is located at . It has an average elevation of 13.534 meters (44.403 feet). The land here ...
, only during weekends.
He has a younger brother, Vishal Sharma.
Sharma joined a cricket camp in 1999 with his uncle's money. Dinesh Lad, his coach at the camp, asked him to change his school to
Swami Vivekanand International School, where Lad was the coach and the cricket facilities were better than those at Sharma’s old school. Sharma recollects, "I told him I couldn't afford it, but he got me a scholarship. So for four years I didn't pay a penny, and did well in my cricket".
Sharma started as an
off-spinner
Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which sp ...
who could bat a bit before Lad noticed his batting ability and promoted him from number eight to
open the innings. He excelled in the Harris and Giles Shield school cricket tournaments, scoring a
century
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
on debut as an opener.
Youth and domestic first-class career
Sharma made his
List A
List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...
debut for
West Zone
The West Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents western India in the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. It is a composite team of players from five first-class Indian teams from western India competing in the Ranji Trophy: ...
against
Central Zone in the
Deodhar Trophy
The Deodhar Trophy, also known as Mastercard Devdhar trophy due to sponsorship reasons (also spelled Devdhar Trophy), is a List A cricket domestic cricket tournament of India. It is named after D. B. Deodhar (known as the Grand Old Man of Indian ...
at
Gwalior in March 2005. Batting at number eight, he scored 31
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at th ...
as West Zone won by 3 wickets with 24 balls remaining.
Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara (born 25 January 1988) is an Indian international cricketer who plays Test cricket for India and represents Saurashtra in domestic cricket. He is a right-handed batter and is known for his disciplined batting style.
...
and
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja (born 6 December 1988), commonly known as Ravindra Jadeja, is an Indian international cricketer. He is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox spin. He was the captain of the Chennai Sup ...
made their debuts in the same match. It was Sharma's unbeaten innings of 142 in 123 balls against
North Zone at the Maharanna Bhupal College Ground in
Udaipur
Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...
in the same tournament that brought him into the limelight. He visited Abu Dhabi and Australia with the India A squad and was then included among India's 30-member probables list for the upcoming
ICC Champions Trophy
The ICC Champions Trophy is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council. The 2013 tournament was intended to be the final edition of the Champions Trophy, but it was extended to 2017 due to i ...
tournament, although he did not make the final squad.
Sharma made his
first-class debut for India A against New Zealand A at
Darwin in July 2006. He scored 57 and 22 as India won by 3 wickets. He made his
Ranji Trophy debut for
Mumbai in the 2006–07 season and scored 205 off 267 balls against
Gujarat.
Mumbai went on to win the tournament with Sharma scoring a half-century (57) in his second innings in the final against
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predo ...
.
Sharma has spent his entire domestic first-class career at Mumbai. In December 2009, he made his highest career score of 309 not out in the Ranji Trophy against
Gujarat. In October 2013, upon the retirement of
Ajit Agarkar
Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar (born 4 December 1977) is a former Indian cricketer and a commentator. He has represented India in more than 200 international matches in all three formats of the game. He is the third highest wicket-taker for India i ...
, he was appointed
team captain ahead of the 2013–14 season.
International career
Test matches
In November 2013, during
Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series, Sharma made his
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
debut at
Eden Gardens
The Eden Gardens is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 66,000.
Eden Gardens is often re ...
in Kolkata against
West Indies and scored 177, the second-highest score on debut by an Indian to
Shikhar Dhawan (187). He followed it up with 111 (not out) in the second Test at his home ground, the
Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Having been out of the Test team since 2017–18, Sharma went on the
2018–19 tour of Australia after he had earned a recall earlier. Chief selector
M. S. K. Prasad said the reason for his recall was that his natural game suited the bouncy Australian pitches. Sharma played in the first Test in Adelaide, scoring 37 and 1 in an Indian victory. During the first Test, he sustained a minor injury which saw him miss the second Test in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. He recovered for the
Boxing Day third Test at
Melbourne and scored 63 (not out) to help India total 443/7 and win both the Test and the series. After the third Test, Sharma had to return to India for the birth of his daughter.
In October 2019, in the third Test
against South Africa, Sharma scored his 2,000th
run
Run(s) or RUN may refer to:
Places
* Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia
* Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant
People
* Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...
and his first double century in Tests. He made 212 in the first innings of the match. Sharma was named as vice-captain of India's Test team during the
tour of Australia in 2020, replacing
Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara (born 25 January 1988) is an Indian international cricketer who plays Test cricket for India and represents Saurashtra in domestic cricket. He is a right-handed batter and is known for his disciplined batting style.
...
.
Sharma had a successful
home series against England in 2021. Instrumental in his team's comeback after a defeat in the first Test at Chennai, he scored a century, one that ''
The Guardian'' termed "deserves to be considered one of the greatest this century."
He put on 167 runs with
Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane (born 6 June 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of Indian team in all formats, who has played for Indian cricket team in all formats as a batsman. He currently captains Mumbai in Ranji trophy. R ...
for the fourth wicket while making 161 runs in an innings that included 18
fours and two
sixes. India went on to win the Test by 317 runs. He top-scored for his side in both innings of the low-scoring third Test in
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (p ...
with scores of 66 and 25 contributing to his team's win. Sharma finished the series aggregating 345 runs, the most for India, at an average of 58.
He went on to score his first overseas Test century on 4 September 2021 with an innings of 127 against England at
The Oval, also reaching the milestone of 3,000 runs in Test cricket.
Sharma was appointed captain of India's Test team in February 2022, succeeding
Virat Kohli, ahead of a two-match series against
Sri Lanka.
Sunil Gavaskar praised his leadership and
Chetan Sharma
Chetan Sharma (born 3 January 1966) is a former Indian cricketer and politician who played Tests and ODIs as a fast bowler for Indian cricket team. On 24 December 2020, he was elected as Chairman of the selection committee of Indian cricket tea ...
, India's chairman of selectors, said: "We will groom future captains under him".
2015 and 2019 Cricket World Cups
In March 2015, Sharma made his first appearance in the
Cricket World Cup
The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...
and played in eight matches for India in the
2015 tournament in Australia. India reached the semi-final stage where they were defeated by
Australia. Sharma scored 330 runs in the tournament with one century, a score of 137 in the quarter-final against
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
On 15 April 2019, Sharma was appointed vice-captain of
India's squad for the
2019 World Cup in England. In the opening match against
South Africa, he scored 122, including his 12,000th run in international cricket. He followed it up with centuries against Pakistan, England and Bangladesh. In the match against Sri Lanka, hitting yet another century, he became the first batsman to score five centuries in a single World Cup tournament, and equalled Tendulkar's record for the most centuries (6) in all World Cup matches. Sharma totalled 648 runs in the tournament to finish as the leading run-scorer and win the ICC's
Golden Bat award, the third Indian player to do so.
Other one-day international matches
Sharma made his full international debut in a one-day match against
Ireland in Belfast on 23 June 2007. This was part of the
2007 Future Cup
The 2007 Future Cup was a 3 ODI cricket series between India and South Africa between 23 June and 1 July. The series was preceded by each team playing one match against Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in ...
competition which also involved
South Africa. He was number seven in the batting order but did not bat as India won the game by 9 wickets.
He scored his maiden ODI half-century (52) against Pakistan at Jaipur on 18 November 2007 and was selected for the Indian squad going to the
2007–08 Commonwealth Bank Series
The 2007–08 edition of the Commonwealth Bank Series was a One Day International cricket tournament held in Australia. The Commonwealth Bank Series is an annual event involving the national teams of Australia, India and Sri Lanka. India won ...
in Australia. In that series, he scored 235 runs at an average of 33.57 with 2 fifties, including 66 in the first final at Sydney when he partnered
Sachin Tendulkar for most of India's successful run chase. After that, however, his ODI performances suffered a downturn and he lost his middle-order position to
Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina (; born 27 November 1986) is an Indian former international cricketer. He occasionally served as stand-in captain for Indian men's national cricket team during the absence of the main captain. He played for Uttar Pradesh (UP) in ...
. Later,
Virat Kohli took his position as the reserve batsman. In December 2009, following his triple century in the Ranji Trophy, he was recalled to the ODI team for the tri-nations tournament in Bangladesh as Tendulkar opted to rest in the series.
He scored his maiden ODI century (114) against
Zimbabwe on 28 May 2010 and followed it up with another century in the next match of the tri-series against
Sri Lanka on 30 May 2010 by scoring 101 not out. He had a run of poor form in South Africa just before the
2011 World Cup and as a consequence he was left out of India's squad for the tournament.
Sharma was recalled to the limited-overs squad for the
tour of the West Indies in June and July 2011. In the first match at
Queen's Park Oval, he scored 68 (not out) from 75 balls with three fours and a six. In the third match at the
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is a stadium in North Sound, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda. It was built for use in the 2007 Cricket World Cup where it hosted Super 8 matches. The stadium usually caters for 10,000 people, but temporary seating doubl ...
in Antigua, he scored a match-winning 86 off 91 balls after India had been reduced to 92 for 6.
He had a disastrous loss of form in 2012 and scored only 168 runs in the whole calendar year at the very low average of 12.92 with just a single half-century. Even so, his captain
Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed faith in him, and his career was revived in 2013. Dhoni decided to move him up the batting order to open the innings with
Shikhar Dhawan in the
2013 ICC Champions Trophy
The 2013 ICC Champions Trophy was the seventh ICC Champions Trophy, a One Day International cricket tournament held in England and Wales between 6 and 23 June 2013.
India won the competition, beating England by five runs in the final after ove ...
. The pairing was a success and India won the competition, defeating hosts
England in the final.
His good form continued and,
later in the year against Australia, he scored 141 (not out) in Jaipur. He followed that with 209 off 158 balls in Bangalore and established a then-world record for the most sixes (16) in a one-day international innings (since beaten by
Eoin Morgan
Eoin (, or ) is an Irish name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is () and both are closely related to the Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish . In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as ''John'' in Engl ...
of England with 17). On 13 November 2014, playing against Sri Lanka at
Eden Gardens
The Eden Gardens is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 66,000.
Eden Gardens is often re ...
in Kolkata, Sharma broke the world record for the highest score in a one-day international innings with 264 from 173 deliveries.
In December 2017, India's captain Virat Kohli was rested for the
series against Sri Lanka, in preparation for
India's tour to South Africa, which began in the first week of January 2018. In his place, Sharma was appointed team captain and India under his leadership won the series 2–1, their eighth consecutive series win since
defeating Zimbabwe in June 2016. Sharma also hit his third ODI double-century in this series, scoring 208 (not out) to extend his record of most ODI double-centuries by a player.
In September 2018, in the absence of many top players including regular captain
Virat Kohli, Sharma led
India to win the
2018 Asia Cup
The 2018 Asia Cup (also known as Unimoni Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that was held in the United Arab Emirates in September 2018. It was the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and the third t ...
, where they defeated
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
in the final.
On 12 January 2019, in the opening match against Australia at the
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sharma scored 133 but it was in vain as India lost by 34 runs. It was his 22nd century in one-day internationals. At Delhi on 13 March 2019, in the fifth and final match of a home series against Australia, Sharma scored 56 including his 8,000th run in one-day internationals. It was his 200th innings. In 2019, he scored the most runs in ODIs by any batsman, with 1,490 runs in the calendar year, including 7 centuries.
In November 2020, Sharma was nominated for the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.
In July 2022, Sharma became the first Indian captain to lead their team to both T20I and ODI series wins in England. He became the 3rd Indian captain to win an ODI series in England, and the first since 2014.
Twenty20 international matches
Sharma was included in the Indian squad for the
2007 ICC World Twenty20
The 2007 ICC World Twenty20 was the inaugural Twenty20 International cricket world championship, contested in South Africa from 11 to 24 September 2007. Twelve teams took part in the thirteen-day tournament—the ten Test-playing nations and the ...
and made his mark by scoring an unbeaten 50 from 40 deliveries against hosts South Africa in the quarter-finals. This enabled India to win the match by 37 runs and they went on to defeat Pakistan in the final, when Sharma scored 30 (not out) from 16 deliveries.
On 2 October 2015, during the
South African tour of India, Sharma scored 106 in the first Twenty20 international at
HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. With that, he became the second Indian cricketer to have scored centuries in all three formats of international cricket.
In December 2017, in a series against Sri Lanka, Sharma scored the joint-fastest T20I century, in 35 balls, ending with 118 from 43 deliveries, equaling the record of
David Miller. This was also his second century in Twenty20 internationals.
On 8 July 2018, during a
series in England, Sharma became the second Indian batsman, after Virat Kohli, to score 2,000 runs in a Twenty20 international career. He was the fifth batsman worldwide to achieve the feat; the others besides Kohli were
Brendon McCullum
Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer representing New Zealand, who played all formats, including as captain. McCullum was renowned for his quick scoring, notably recording the f ...
,
Martin Guptill
Martin James Guptill (born 30 September 1986) is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays as an opening batsman in limited overs formats of the game. Guptill is the first cricketer from New Zealand and the fifth overall to have scored a ...
and
Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan national ...
. He also scored his third T20I century during this series, equaling the then-record for most T20I centuries, held by
Colin Munro
Colin Munro (born 11 March 1987) is a South-African born New Zealand international cricketer, who plays limited overs formats of the game. He was a member of the New Zealand Under 19 side and is currently a member of the Auckland cricket team ...
.
In March 2018, he led Team India to win the
Nidahas Trophy under his captaincy.
In November 2018, in a
series against West Indies, he scored his fourth T20I century, creating a new record for the most centuries by a player in T20I cricket.
In November 2019, in the opening match of the series
against Bangladesh, Sharma became the
most-capped cricketer for India in T20Is, playing in his 99th match. In the next match of the series, he became the first male cricketer for India
to play in 100 T20Is.
In November 2020, Sharma was nominated for the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Decade award.
In July 2022, Sharma became the first captain in T20I history to lead their team to 14 consecutive victories.
2022 T20 World Cup
With his participation in the
2022 T20 World Cup
The 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the eighth ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. It was played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022. Although originally scheduled to be held in 2020, in July 2020, the International Cricket Counci ...
in
Australia, Sharma became the only Indian cricketer to have played in every edition of the tournament since its inception in 2007.
On 27 October 2022, Sharma broke the record for most sixes by an Indian batsman in T20 World Cups, previously held by
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh (born 12 December 1981) is a former Indian international cricketer who played in all formats of the game. He is an all-rounder who batted left-handed in the middle order and bowled slow left-arm orthodox . He has won 7 Player of ...
, hitting his 34th six against
Netherlands at
Syndey Cricket Ground.
Indian Premier League
Sharma joined the
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as Tata Group, TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 cricket, T20 Professional sports league organization, franchise cricket Sports league, league of India. It is annually contested by ...
(IPL) in 2008 when he was signed by the
Deccan Chargers franchise, based in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...
, for the sum of US$750,000 a year. In the 2011 auction, he was sold for US$2 million to the Mumbai Indians. He scored his only IPL century in the
2012 tournament with 109 (not out) against the
Kolkata Knight Riders. Under his leadership, Mumbai has won the IPL in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020; they also won the former
Champions League Twenty20
The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, was an annual international Twenty20 Cricket competition played between qualifying domestic teams from some major cricketing nations. The competition was launched in 2008 with the fi ...
competition in 2013.
Sharma has been one of the most successful players in the IPL as captain since 2013 of the
Mumbai Indians, who have won the tournament five times under his leadership.
He is currently (March 2022) one of six players who have scored 5,000 career runs in the competition. Sharma has 5,611 runs with one century and 40 half centuries and is the third-highest run scorer after
Virat Kohli (6,283) and
Shikhar Dhawan (5,784).
Playing style
Sharma is an aggressive batsman but plays with style and elegance. He is usually an opening batsman in limited overs cricket, but has played most of his Test cricket as a middle-order batsman. In
limited overs cricket, Sharma is widely recognised as one of the format's most outstanding batsmen.
Sunil Gavaskar considers Sharma to have a batting style similar to those of
Virender Sehwag and
Viv Richards. In his column for ''
The Times of India'' in November 2018, Gavaskar said:
While Sharma is not a regular bowler, he can bowl right arm
off spin
Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...
.
He usually fields in the
slips and has said this is a part of his game which he works very hard on for improvement.
Achievements
Sharma holds the world record for the highest individual score by a batsman playing in a one-day international match, having scored 264 against Sri Lanka at
Eden Gardens
The Eden Gardens is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 66,000.
Eden Gardens is often re ...
,
Kolkata, on 13 November 2014.
He is the only player to have scored three double-centuries in this form of international cricket. In January 2020, Sharma was named as the ODI Player of the Year by the
International Cricket Council (ICC). During the
2019 World Cup, Sharma became the only batsman to scored five centuries in a single edition of the Cricket World Cup.
On 5 October 2019, during a Test match against
South Africa, Sharma became the first batsman to score two centuries in a match on his first appearance as an opening batsman. In the same series, he broke
Shimron Hetmyer's record for the highest number of
sixes in a Test series.
National honours
* 2015 –
Arjuna Award
The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...
* 2020 –
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna
Sporting honours
*
ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year: 2019
*
ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year: 2014 (12th man), 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
*
ICC Men's ODI Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
*
ICC Men's T20I Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
*
ICC Men's Test Team of the Year: 2021
For his achievements on India's tour of England in 2021, Sharma was selected by ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' as one of the five
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
in its 2022 edition.
Outside cricket
Personal life
Sharma married his longtime girlfriend, Ritika Sajdeh on 13 December 2015. They have one child, a girl born on 30 December 2018. He is a practitioner of the meditation technique
Sahaj Marg
Sahaj Marg or Heartfulness Meditation is a set of meditative practices first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalized into teaching through Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945. It is a form of Raja Yoga meditation system. Use of ...
.
Commercial endorsements
Sharma has been sponsored by several brands including
CEAT and the Swiss watchmaker
Hublot
Hublot () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1980 by Italian Carlo Crocco. The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH.
History
A scion of the Italian Binda Group dynasty, best known for ...
. In his career, Sharma has endorsed many other brands including
Maggi, Fair and Lovely,
Lay's
Lay's is a brand of potato chips, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay because both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the Frito-Lay company, which has b ...
,
Nissan, energy drink
Relentless, Nasivion
nasal spray
Nasal sprays are used to deliver medications locally in the nasal cavities or systemically. They are used locally for conditions such as nasal congestion and allergic rhinitis. In some situations, the nasal delivery route is preferred for syst ...
,
Aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient R ...
by
VIP Industries
VIP Industries is India's largest luggage manufacturing company which manufactures luggage and travel accessories. It is based in Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the I ...
,
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
and
Oppo mobiles.
Philanthropy
Sharma engages in numerous philanthropic activities, promoting various causes such as
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity, ...
,
health, and
children. He is particularly vocal about the protection of animals and has supported various initiatives and organisations to promote the cause.
In February 2015, Sharma joined
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to support sterilisation of homeless cats and dogs. When supporting the cause Sharma said, "Sterilisation is important because I feel that if we can stop (the homeless-animal crisis), there will be control of population among the street dogs".
In September 2015, along with Hollywood actors
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc r ...
and
Salma Hayek, Sharma joined an anti-poaching campaign in Kenya to save the wild animals of Africa including the last surviving
northern white rhinoceros
The northern white rhinoceros or northern white rhino (''Ceratotherium simum cottoni'') is one of two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the southern white rhinoceros). Formerly found in several countries in East and Central Af ...
. When joining the campaign Sharma said, "I have been a member of PETA and when I was informed about the cause, I thought it is my duty to join the anti-poaching drive. That's what got me to Nairobi. I was fascinated to have a look at
Sudan (the last northern white rhino) and the sniffer dogs who catch hold of the poachers".
In November 2017, Sharma in a video on social media said that he had agreed with an online store to merchandise mobile phone covers and other items that would use his name and ODI jersey no. 45. Sharma also told his
Twitter followers: "All proceeds from your purchases would go to an animal charity of my choice".
In 2018 on "World Rhino Day", Sharma was announced as the
WWF-India
World Wide Fund for Nature-India, better known by its abbreviation, WWF-India, has been devotedly working to protect and secure natural heritage and ecology for more than 50 years. It has an autonomous office, with the Secretariat based in New Del ...
Rhino Ambassador. Ravi Singh, the CEO and Secretary General of WWF-India, said about the association with Sharma: "We are encouraged that sportsmen like Rohit are coming forward to support the call for conservation. Rohit’s contribution to international cricket is well known and his supporting the conservation of rhinoceros in India will help the cause of the species. We welcome Rohit into the WWF family". After taking a pledge for the cause of rhino conservation, Sharma said, "My love for rhinos sparked when I first heard about Sudan, the last male northern white African rhino who passed away this year thus leading to the inevitable extinction of the entire species and that broke my heart. As the world and I mourned for my fallen friend Sudan, I researched the best way for me to help prevent something like this happening and the best way I know how is to create awareness. After getting in touch with WWF I learnt that 82% of the world’s rhinos reside in India and I am honoured to be WWF-India’s rhino ambassador to spread awareness and do my bit to contribute to the protection and survival of the rhino and help make this world a better place for them."
References
External links
Rohit Sharma biography*
Rohit Sharmaat Wisden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Rohit
1987 births
Living people
Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers from Mumbai
Cricketers from Nagpur
Cricketers who made a century on Test debut
Deccan Chargers cricketers
India Green cricketers
India One Day International cricketers
India Red cricketers
India Test cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
Indian Hindus
Indian cricketers
Indian philanthropists
Marathi people
Mumbai Indians cricketers
Mumbai cricketers
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award
Telugu people
West Zone cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
World Wide Fund for Nature