India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, was spotted practicing his bowling skills during a training session before the highly anticipated 2023 World Cup match against Bangladesh. The practice took place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday, October 19th.
A picture circulating on social media shows the 36-year-old cricketer casually practicing his bowling skills on Tuesday, October 17. Although primarily a batsman, he occasionally bowls as well. His last official bowling performance was in a match against Ireland in March 2015, where he took eight wickets at an economy rate of 5.21 in One Day Internationals (ODIs).
Sharma was questioned about the 2011 World Cup team having better all-around possibilities than 2023,during a news conference prior to the Asia Cup. He answered:
“Hopefully, Sharma and Kohli can roll arm over in the World Cup.”
For those who are unaware, Rohit has one hat-trick to his credit in the Indian Premier League, which he scored in 2009 while representing the Deccan Chargers (now Sunrisers Hyderabad). To accomplish his hat trick, he fired Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, and JP Duminy.
Before the India-Bangladesh 2023 World Cup match, fans on X (previously known as Twitter) responded cheekily to Rohit Sharma rolling arms in the nets. One user commented:
“More people aren’t aware he has a hat-trick.”
You may see the video here.
Here are some more reactions:
Former India cricketer praises Rohit Sharma for his consistent performance
Amol Majumdar, a former cricketer for India, praised Rohit Sharma for his World Cup 2023 batting performances. He emphasized how the right-handed batter’s career took a turn for the better when he was rejected from the India World Cup squad in 2011.
As Majumdar stated to Star Sports:
“See, Rohit Sharma played for India in 2007. He played in the world T20, won the championship, and then transitioned into the One-day squad. But when he was not picked in the squad for the 2011 World Cup, he was very upset.”
“I’m aware he moved back from Bandra to Borivali. And he also hired a fitness trainer, and that fitness trainer stayed at his house for 2-3 months. He concentrated a lot on his fitness and made his comeback from there on, and he’s not looked back since.”
Amol Majumdar
In three games, Rohit has scored 217 runs at a strike rate of 72.33, including 131 against Afghanistan and 86 against Pakistan.