Rohit Sharma has not found a place in India’s all-time great batting list, according to Sanjay Manjrekar. Despite all that he’s done for Indian cricket – scoring three double centuries in ODIs, leading India to a T20 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy, Rohit still isn’t spoken of in the same breath as some of Indian cricket’s biggest names.
Rohit is India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in international cricket across formats, with 19,700 runs to his name. He has amassed 4,301 runs in 67 Tests and 11,168 runs in ODIs.
But while his T20I and ODI record is impressive, it’s his Test career, which Manjrekar reckons is pulling him back. Manjrekar, who’s been very vocal towards his support for Rohit in the past, however, couldn’t stop singing the Indian captain’s praises of the Indian captain’s selfless nature that makes him a cut above the rest.
“Rohit Sharma does not fit in all-time Indian Batting Great list because we’re talking about legends like Gavaskar (Sunil), Tendulkar (Sachin), Dravid (Rahul), and Virat (Kohli). Rohit does not quite make it there,” Manjrekar said on the Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan.
“But if you look at one-day cricket, selflessness, or captainship, then you have to mention Rohit Sharma. Especially after the 2023 World Cup, the love people have for him is on another level. People saw that he was never thinking about himself; he was willing to sacrifice his own interests for the team’s advantage. That’s his real speciality. His easy domination in limited-overs cricket was always pleasing, almost making 300 runs in one ODI innings. But when you talk of all-time Indian Batting Great, Test cricket holds more weightage, I don’t think he made a big impact in that format.”
Rohit’s Test career
Rohit’s Test career is divided into two halves: the first from 2013 to 2018, when he struggled to cement his place in the Playing XI despite scoring a century on debut against the West Indies in 2013, and the second from 2019 until the end. After a record-breaking 2019 World Cup, where Rohit became the first and only cricketer to smash five centuries in a single edition of the WC, Rohit was promoted as an opener, and he took that responsibility on in style. In 2021, Rohit finally scored his maiden overseas century against England at The Oval, and led India to a win over Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and England at home. He announced his retirement on May 7.