Rohit Sharma has been under constant scrutiny throughout his career for his fitness and agility. At a time when Virat Kohli set new standards of fitness in the Indian team, Rohit was put under the microscope for his relative lack of fitness.
Now that he has retired from T20Is and Tests, his place in the ODI side, especially ahead of the upcoming 2027 ODI World Cup, is being questioned repeatedly because of his age and fitness level. Soham Desai, former India strength and conditioning coach, meanwhile has shared that Rohit suffered a career-threatening injury in 2017 and that he would not have been able to continue for so long if he hadn’t taken care of his fitness.
Former India strength and conditioning coach speaks on Rohit Sharma’s fitness
“People say this Rohit is lazy, that he’s fat, and that he doesn’t train. People need to understand this: that Rohit Sharma had a career-threatening injury around his hip in the 2017 Champions Trophy,” revealed Soham on a podcast.
“Around his hip is his weak spot. If he doesn’t train for a minimum of two strength sessions in a week, he is a red flag, he is a ticking bomb. And that has been the scenario for the last seven to eight years. So if he was not working hard, if he was lazy, he wouldn’t have lasted till today,” shared the former S&C coach.
Rohit’s record in ODIs
Rohit is India’s third-highest ODI run-scorer with 12,120 runs in 291 matches. He is behind only Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs) and Virat Kohli (15,109 runs). As for centuries scored, Rohit is third overall in the history of the game with 35 tons, behind Kohli (55) and Sachin (49).
Under Rohit, India won the 2024 T20 World Cup, and he was also part of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning side as well. He also took India to the 2023 ODI World Cup final, where they lost to Australia.