Published 15:07 IST, June 23rd 2020
MS Dhoni's role in Rohit Sharma getting the name 'Hitman' revealed
MS Dhoni: Rohit Sharma became a fan favourite due to his explosive batting and ability to hit sixes at will which earned him the nickname 'Hitman'.
India cricketer Rohit Sharma, who made his international debut way back in 2007, having celebrated the 13th anniversary of the same on Tuesday, has gone on to establish himself as one of the top batsmen in world cricket. The right-handed batsman, who played the initial years of his career in the middle order, was promoted as an opener in the 2013 Champions Trophy by then then captain MS Dhoni. Since then, Rohit Sharma's fortunes have changed and the 33-year-old has gone on to break several records through his blistering batting.
Rohit Sharma reveals how not following MS Dhoni's advice earned him the nickname 'Hitman'
Courtesy his explosive hitting and the ability to create any boundary in the world with utmost ease, Rohit Sharma became a fan favourite. And just like Sachin Tendulkar earned the nickname of ‘Master Blaster’, MS Dhoni is known as ‘Captain Cool’ and Virat Kohli is worshipped as ‘King Kohli’, Rohit Sharma too was awarded an iconic name - the 'Hitman'. Recently, the Mumbai Indians captain himself revealed how he got the moniker.
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While speaking to R Ashwin on his show Reminisce With Ash, Rohit Sharma explained in detail how people started calling him the Hitman after his first of three double-centuries in 50-over cricket. On November 2, 2013 in Bengaluru, Australia won the toss and invited India to bat first. Rohit Sharma and his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan formed a brilliant 112-run partnership. However, a flurry of wickets saw MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma at the crease with 16 overs left in the innings.
Speaking about his maiden double-ton, Rohit Sharma said that MS Dhoni likes to talk and keep adding his thoughts about what he should do. He added that MS Dhoni was telling him that he is the set batsman and he wants him to bat till the 48th, 49th or 50th over because he can hit any bowler anywhere he wants. So MS Dhoni said that he would take chances and asked him to just take a backseat, take singles, knock the ball in the gaps and find the odd boundary if he can.
However, being well set by then, Rohit Sharma didn't agree with MS Dhoni's advice and said that he was seeing the ball really well and he thought he might as well put pressure on the bowlers right there. So, he decided to just go after the bowlers. And he said he remembers hitting Xavier Doherty for four sixes in an over.
Rohit Sharma ended up scoring 209 from 158 balls and brought up his first double-ton in ODI cricket. The Mumbai Indians captain was completely exhausted after playing for 222 minutes straight and was in no mood to talk to the media after the innings but his media manager requested to do so as he’d created history. One of the broadcasters there told Sharma how he played like a 'Hitman' and that’s how the name stuck around ever since.
IMAGE COURTESY: ICC TWITTER
Updated 15:07 IST, June 23rd 2020