Former India cricket team Test captain Rohit Sharma belonged to a rare crop of players as he managed to make his India A debut before representing his state. A former Indian selector has revealed how his father played a crucial role in scouting the Hitman, and had even dubbed him as the next Sachin Tendulkar. Sharma made his India A debut in 2006 against New Zealand A in Darwin, which also happened to the game he scored his maiden first-class century.
How Rohit Sharma bypassed Mumbai to make India A debut
On ‘A Century of Stories’ podcast with Cyrus Broacha, late coach Vasoo Paranjape’s son Jatin revealed that it was his father who ensured that Rohit played for India A first before representing Mumbai. The former Indian cricketer said that his father had compared Sharma to Sachin Tendulkar, adding that he would be the next player from Mumbai to go on to play for Team India. Following his India A debut in 2006, Rohit Sharma went on to make his ODI debut in the very next year and was also a part of the T20 World Cup winning Indian side led by MS Dhoni.
“I remember my father was the chief talent scout of the MCA. He came back saying, ‘Jatin, after Sachin, I have seen somebody who will take the world by storm’. I said, ‘Who is it?’. He said, ‘There is this boy called Rohit Sharma, who hasn’t played any cricket and they don’t rate him, but I have had a chat with a couple of coaches today and they have picked him in the developmental squad’. I said, ‘Yeah, we have heard of him too in the Mumbai dressing room’. He said, ‘This guy is going to be the next Mumbai player to play for India’,” revealed Jatin.
Jatin revealed that former Indian selector Kiran More played a key role in providing Rohit the platform. He said that the ex-Indian keeper had picked Sharma in the India A side even before the Mumbai Cricket Association could select him at the state level.
“For players like these, you need a lot of strategic planning to be had in your career. That cannot be done by a player. For me, Kiran More being a part of the selection committee when Rohit was just kind of coming up was a very big advantage because Kiran has got a super, super eye for talent. Kiran picked him before the MCA picked him. He played for India A before he played for Mumbai. Those are the kind of people you need,” Jatin added.
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