Rohit Sharma (born 30 April 1987) is an Indian
international cricketer and the
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
of the
national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
in
ODIs. He is also a former captain in Tests and T20Is. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest T20I
opening batters of all time. He is a right-handed
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...
who plays for
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...
in
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...
and for
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
in domestic cricket. After the team's victory at the
2024 Men's T20 World Cup, he announced his retirement from T20Is.
He was also a member of the teams that won the
2007 T20 World Cup, the
2013 ICC Champions Trophy and the
2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Sharma holds several batting records which famously include most runs in
T20 Internationals, most sixes in international cricket, most double centuries in
ODI cricket (3), most centuries at
Cricket World Cup
The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...
s (7) and joint most hundreds in
Twenty20 International
Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...
s (5).He also holds the world record for the highest individual score (264) in a
One Day International
One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
(ODI) and also holds the record for scoring most hundreds (five) in a single
Cricket World Cup
The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...
, for which he won the
ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year award in 2019. He is the first and only captain to lead a team in all ICC tournament finals.
He formerly captained
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...
and the team has won five
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...
titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 under him, making him the most successful captain in
IPL history, sharing this record with
MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and a wicket-keeper. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific wicket-keeper batsmen and captains and one of the greatest O ...
. He is also one of two players who have played in every edition of the
T20 World Cup, from the
inaugural edition in 2007 to the latest one in 2024. He is the only Indian player to win two
T20 World Cups. He became the second Indian captain to win a
T20 World Cup.
He has received two national honours, the
Arjuna Award
The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given 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 Arjun ...
in 2015 and the prestigious
Khel Ratna Award in 2020 by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
. Under his captaincy, India won the
2018 Asia Cup and the
2023 Asia Cup, the seventh and eighth time the country won the title, both in ODI format as well as the
2018 Nidahas Trophy, their second overall and first in T20I format.
Early life
Sharma was born on 30 April 1987 into a
Telugu-
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
**Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
–speaking family in Bansod,
Nagpur
Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...
,
Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, India.
His mother, Purnima Sharma, is from
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
. 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: Help:IPA/Marathi, oːɾiʋəliː is a suburb which is located in the north-western end of Mumbai, India. Traditionally the tribals and East Indians lived in Borivali.
The attractions include Sanjay Gandhi National ...
because of his father's low income. He would visit his parents, who lived in a single-room house in
Dombivli, 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 who could bat a bit before Lad noticed his batting ability and promoted him from number eight to
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979
* ''Open'' (Go ...
the innings. He excelled in the Harris and Giles Shield school cricket tournaments, scoring a
century
A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. 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.
...
on debut as an opener.
Personal life
Sharma married his longtime girlfriend, Ritika Sajdeh on 13 December 2015 whom he first met in 2008. They welcomed their first child, a girl, named Samaira, born on 30 December 2018. Sharma is a practitioner of the meditation technique
Sahaj Marg. Rohit and Ritika welcomed their second child, a boy, named Ahaan, on 15 November 2024.
He practices an
eggetarian diet.
Commercial endorsements
Sharma has been sponsored by several brands including
CEAT and the
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
watchmaker
Hublot. In his career, Sharma has endorsed many other brands including
Maggi
Maggi (, ) is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. In 1947, the Maggi brand was acquired by the Switzerland, Swiss giant Nestlé.
History
Early history
...
,
Glow & Lovely,
Lay's
Lay's (, ) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, 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, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the ...
,
Nissan
is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
, energy drink
Relentless, Nasivion
nasal spray
Nasal sprays are used to deliver medications Route of administration#Local, locally in the nasal cavities or systemic administration, systemically. They are used locally for conditions such as nasal congestion and allergic rhinitis. In some sit ...
,
Aristocrat
The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...
by
VIP Industries
VIP Industries is India's largest luggage manufacturing company which manufactures luggage and travel accessories. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and is the world's second-largest and Asia's largest luggage maker. The company has mor ...
,
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
and
Oppo mobiles.
Youth career
Sharma made his
List A
List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, 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 competit ...
debut for
West Zone against
Central Zone in the
Deodhar Trophy at
Gwalior
Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...
in March 2005. Batting at number eight, he scored 31
not out
In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at ...
as West Zone won by 3 wickets with 24 balls remaining.
Cheteshwar Pujara and
Ravindra Jadeja 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 (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...
in the same tournament that brought him into the limelight. He visited
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
and Australia with the India A squad and was then included among India's 30-member probable's list for the upcoming
ICC Champions Trophy 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
The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...
debut for
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
in the 2006–07 season and scored 205 off 267 balls against
Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
.
Mumbai went on to win the tournament with Sharma scoring a half-century (57) in his second innings in the final against
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
.
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
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
. In October 2013, upon the retirement of
Ajit Agarkar, he was appointed
team captain
In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...
ahead of the 2013–14 season.
International career
Test matches
In November 2013, during
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
'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 in Kolkata against
West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
and scored 177, the second-highest individual 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 list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
. He recovered for the
Boxing Day
Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...
third Test at
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
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 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.
He 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
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' termed "deserves to be considered one of the greatest this century."
He put on 167 runs with
Ajinkya Rahane 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 ( ), also spelled 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 ...
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
The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...
, also reaching the milestone of 3,000 runs in Test cricket.
Later, he was appointed as the captain of India's Test team in February 2022, succeeding
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...
, ahead of a two-match series against
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
.
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ born 10 July 1949), is a former captain of the Indian national cricket team who represented India national cricket team, India and Mumbai crick ...
praised his leadership and
Chetan Sharma, India's chairman of selectors, said: "We will groom future captains under him".
He had a poor run of form with the bat in the 2024–25 season. His captaincy also came under criticism following
the 0–3 home series defeat to New Zealand, India's first Test series loss at home in 12 years, and
the 1–3 away loss to Australia that followed. In his eight final Tests, he managed to score just one half-century and averaged 10.93. On 7 May 2025, ahead of
India's England tour, he announced his retirement from Test cricket. He finished his Test career having played 61 Tests and making 4,301 runs at 40.57. In the 24 Tests he captained, India won 12, losing nine and drawing 3.
2015, 2019 and 2023 Cricket World Cups
In March 2015, Sharma made his first appearance in the
Cricket World Cup
The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...
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
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. 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 List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
.
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
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, 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.
On 8 October 2023, during the ICC Cricket World Cup, Sharma was entrusted with the captaincy responsibilities for the Indian team in a match against Australia. This significant moment marked the first time he captained the Indian side in the
Cricket World Cup
The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...
. What set this particular event apart was that at that time, he had become the oldest player to lead the Indian team in the tournament, showcasing his maturity and experience as a cricketer.
On 11 October 2023, during a match against
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
in the
Cricket World Cup 2023, Sharma achieved a milestone by surpassing the
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
's record for the most centuries in World Cup history. With a display of batting prowess, Sharma notched his seventh century, breaking the record in this World Cup encounter.
Other one-day international matches
Sharma made his full international debut in a one-day match against
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in Belfast on 23 June 2007. This was part of the
2007 Future Cup competition which also involved
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. 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 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
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
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. Later,
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...
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
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
on 28 May 2010 and followed it up with another century in the next match of the tri-series against
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
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
The Queen's Park Oval is a sports stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, used mostly for cricket matches. It opened in 1896. Privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club, it is currently the second largest capacity cricket ground in ...
, 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, Saint George, 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 seatin ...
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 pairing was a success and India won the competition, defeating hosts
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
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 Joseph Gerard Morgan (born 10 September 1986) is an Irish-born English former cricketer and current commentator. He captained the England cricket team in limited overs cricket from 2015 until his international retirement in June 2022. He ...
of England with 17). On 13 November 2014, playing against Sri Lanka at
Eden Gardens 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
Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...
, Sharma led India to win the
2018 Asia Cup, where they defeated
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
in the final.
On 12 January 2019, in the opening match against Australia at the
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...
, 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.
In February 2025, at the ICC Champions Trophy, in a group game against Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma became the 2nd fastest player to score 11,000 runs in ODI Cricket. He achieved this feat in 261 innings, behind only
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...
who achieved it in 222 innings.
Twenty20 international matches
Sharma was included in the Indian squad for the
2007 ICC World Twenty20
The 2007 ICC World Twenty20 was the inaugural edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20 that was contested in South Africa from 11 to 24 September 2007. Twelve teams took part in the thirteen-day tournament� ...
and made his mark by scoring an unbeaten 50 from 40 deliveries against hosts South Africa in a must win Super Eight match. 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,
Martin Guptill and
Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, (; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan nati ...
. He also scored his third T20I century during this series, equaling the then-record for most T20I centuries, held by
Colin Munro.
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.
With his participation in the
2022 T20 World Cup 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, hitting his 34th six against
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
at
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...
.
In May 2024, he was named as a captain in India's squad for the
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. In June 2024, during a match against Ireland, he achieved the milestone of hitting 600 sixes in international cricket across all formats. On 29 June 2024, Sharma led India to win the 2024 T20 World Cup after defeating South Africa in the final.
In the post-match press conference after the T20 World Cup victory, Sharma declared his retirement from T20Is, while confirming that he would continue to represent India in ODIs and Test match formats.
Franchise career
Rohit Sharma joined the
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...
(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. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, for the sum of US$750,000 a year. In 2009, he won the IPL for the first time as the vice-captain of the team. In the 2011 auction, he was sold for US$2 million to the Mumbai Indians. He scored his maiden IPL century in the
2012 season with 109
* off 60 balls against the
Kolkata Knight Riders
The Kolkata Knight Riders, also known as KKR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and ...
. In the
2015 season, he missed his century falling short by just two runs, scoring 98
* off 65 balls in the first match of the season against
Kolkata Knight Riders
The Kolkata Knight Riders, also known as KKR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and ...
but it went in vain as it came in a losing cause. Again in the
2018 season, he missed his century, scoring 94 off 52 balls against
Royal Challengers Bangalore coming in a 46-run win. Then he scored his second IPL century in
2024 tournament with 105
* off 63 balls against the arch-rivals
Chennai Super Kings
The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...
but this came in a losing cause, this was his 1st century after 12 long years.
Under his leadership, Mumbai has won the IPL in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020; they also won the former
Champions League Twenty20 competition in 2013.
Sharma has been one of the most successful players in the IPL as captain since 2013 of the
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...
, who have won the tournament five times under his leadership.
He led Mumbai Indians in 158 matches securing 87 victories, making him the second-most successful captain in IPL history surpassed only by
MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and a wicket-keeper. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific wicket-keeper batsmen and captains and one of the greatest O ...
with 136 victories. He is one of seven players who have scored 5,000 career runs in the competition. He has scored 7,046 runs with 2 centuries and 47 half centuries and is the second-highest run scorer after
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...
(8,661). In 2024, Sharma was sacked as the captain, in favour of
Hardik Pandya, their new buy. This sparked massive controversy among the fans and many were disappointed that Sharma was not put back as captain.
Career statistics
International career
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
Limited overs cricket, also known as white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed within one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty20 cricket (3-h ...
, Sharma is widely recognised as one of the format's most outstanding batsmen. And for his attacking batting and six hitting abilities he often referred as Hitman.
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ born 10 July 1949), is a former captain of the Indian national cricket team who represented India national cricket team, India and Mumbai crick ...
considers Sharma to have a batting style similar to those of
Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag (, born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive openers and one of the greatest batsmen of his era, he played for Delhi Capitals in I ...
and
Viv Richards. In his column for ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' 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 spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to r ...
.
He usually fields in the
slips Slips (or SLIPS) may refer to:
*Slips (oil drilling)
*SLIPS (Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces)
*SLIPS (Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System)
*Slip (cricket), often used in the plural form
*The Slips, a UK electronic music duo
See also
* ...
and has said this is a part of his game which he works very hard on for improvement.
Achievements
Sharma scored the highest-ever individual score in a One Day International match, with a 264 against Sri Lanka at the
Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 13 November 2014.
He is the only player to have scored three double-centuries in ODIs. In January 2020, Sharma was named as the ODI Player of the Year by the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...
(ICC). In
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, 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
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, 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.
On 11 October 2023, Sharma achieved a historic feat during the
2023 Cricket World Cup
The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...
match against Afghanistan team, when he surpassed the record previously held by
Chris Gayle for the most international sixes (553).
On 14 October 2023, Sharma achieved a milestone in the world of cricket by becoming the first Indian to complete 300 sixes in the 50-overs format. This feat occurred during an India-
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
match at
Narendra Modi Stadium, in front of more than 100,000 fans.
During a 22 October 2023 match against
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, Sharma became the first Indian batter to hit 50
One Day International
One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
(ODI) sixes in a calendar year.
On 2 August 2024, Sharma surpassed
Eoin Morgan
Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan (born 10 September 1986) is an Irish-born English former cricketer and current commentator. He captained the England cricket team in limited overs cricket from 2015 until his international retirement in June 2022. He ...
to have hit most sixes in international cricket as captain.
Sharma's 19
Player of the Match awards is the highest by an indian in IPL history.
Awards & Honours
Awards
Honours
Television appearances
Philanthropy
Sharma engages in numerous philanthropic activities, promoting various causes such as
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of 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 ...
, 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
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president.
Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights ...
(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 ...
and
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...
, Sharma joined an anti-poaching campaign in Kenya to save the wild animals of Africa including the last surviving
northern white rhinoceros. 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
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
(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 Rhino Ambassador. Ravi Singh, the CEO and Secretary General of WWF-India, said "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 died 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 Sharma at Wisden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Rohit
1987 births
Living people
Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2023 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
21st-century Indian sportsmen
Indian Hindus
Indian philanthropists
Marathi sportspeople
Mumbai Indians cricketers
Mumbai cricketers
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award
Telugu people
Marathi people
Telugu cricketers
West Zone cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
World Wide Fund for Nature
Indian cricket captains
India Test cricket captains