ugc_banner

'Haven't seen someone....' - THROWBACK! When Virat Kohli shared his first impression of batsman Rohit Sharma

WION Web Team
New Delhi, India Updated: Dec 10, 2021, 04:02 PM IST
main img
India's Rohit Sharma (R) with captain Virat Kohli (L). Photograph:(AFP)

Story highlights

Not many know the first impression Rohit Sharma had created in Virat's Kohli's mind during their early days. In a throwback video, Kohli revealed how he felt seeing Rohit bat for the first time:

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been the superstars of Indian cricket for quite sometime. Both of them were touted to be the next-big-thing when they were coming up the ranks in their early days. While Rohit debuted in early 2007 and was also part of the victorious MS Dhoni-led Men in Blue in the inaugural T20 World Cup, Kohli came into the scene in 2008. Since then, both have risen up the ladder through sheer consistency and talent. The duo are also part of the leadership group for long and continue to take Indian cricket forward. 

However, not many know the first impression Rohit had created in Virat's mind during their early days. In a chat with Gaurav Kapur on his show 'Breakfast with Champions', Kohli had recalled his first impression of Rohit the batsman. Back then, Kohli had confessed that he was curious to know why Rohit was hyped so much. However, after seeing him bat in the 2007 T20 WC, all of Kohli's questions were answered in a jiffy.

Kohli told host Gaurav, "Initially when Rohit was bursting onto the scene...we were all very curios because everyone was talking about his player Rohit Sharma. We were very curios because we were also young players but nobody was talking about us. Then during the T20 World Cup I saw him bat...and I just slumped on the sofa. That shut my mouth forever. When you saw him play you understood what people were talking about. What we are witnessing here, amazing. I haven't seen someone time the ball better than him." 

Virat and Rohit -- Two superstars of Indian cricket

Speaking of Kohli's achievements to date, he led India to the U-19 World Cup in 2008, was part of India's 2011 ODI WC triumph and 2013 Champions Trophy title win. He has over 22,000 international runs and 70 centuries under his belt. In addition, he has led India to the No. 1 spot in ICC Test rankings on numerous occasions and to the 2019 ODI WC semi-finals and WTC final.

Rohit, on the other hand, has close to 10,000 ODI runs, is the third-highest run-getter in T20Is (after second-positioned Kohli) and remains the Indian opener across formats. He was part of India's 2007 T20 WC success as well as the CT'2013 win. 

Recently, Rohit took over from Kohli to become India's limited-overs captain whereas the latter continues to remain the Test captain.