Mumbai`s domestic players heaped praise on Team India`s traditional batsman Rohit Sharma, who recently made his appearance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) matches.
The tournament had started on December 23, with the title clash scheduled to be played on January 18.
Rohit, whose last appearance in the tournament came in 2018, featured in two VHT matches this year.
Representing Mumbai in two matches, Rohit registered the score of 155 runs against Sikkim in his first game, but departed on a golden duck in the second match against Uttarakhand.
Recalling the first time he saw Rohit Sharma in a practice session, Mumbai`s Suryansh Shedge said he observed the former skipper`s preparations and noticed that the 38-year-old often talks about the game.
“First day when Rohit bhai came to the practice session, I couldn`t believe it at first sight. But then I was really curious, I wanted to know how he does what he does, how Rohit bhai has reached that level, and you know, won so many trophies for our country, I wanted to go through Rohitbhai`s routine. So I was watching him closely during practice, and one thing I noticed is that he likes to talk about cricket, and he`s always thinking about cricket,” he said.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who opened the innings for Mumbai along with Rohit, said that he enjoyed watching him bat and also labelled him as a “legend”.
“I had the privilege of opening the innings with him, and we made a 140-run partnership together, out of which I got only 40 runs, and he was just stonking it all around the ground. I was having a tough time because I had to play the new ball, I was leaving, I was defending and then I just watched from the non-striker and then he was smacking the bowlers, he was sweeping the fast bowlers and it was just magical to watch from the non-striker and I`ve never seen batting like that with someone who I batted with, he`s a legend,” he said.
Mumbai`s all-rounder Shams Mulani said that every player in the team wanted to showcase their skills to Rohit.
“When he`s coming into the Mumbai team, the aura that Rohit bhai brings is different and I thought that people got a lot serious, they wanted to showcase their talent in front of him in the nets or whenever he was around, they wanted to show how good they are in front of him, and they wanted to express themselves in front of Rohit bhai,” said Mulani.
Mumbai all-rounder Musheer Khan recounted an incident where he shared the crease with Rohit Sharma, saying, “I was at the crease during my hundred, and he (Rohit Sharma) kept telling me to bat freely. When there were only 25-30 runs to get for the win, he asked me if I wanted to bat. I said, `No, dada, you take the strike and finish the game quickly,` and he did exactly that, and we won”.
(With ANI Inputs)
