Hitman’s injury list: Timeline of Rohit Sharma's injuries since 2020
Team India captain Rohit Sharma walked off the field retired hurt during the third T20I of the five-match series against West Indies on Tuesday (August 2). He was batting on 11 during India’s chase of 165 in St Kitts. He hit a six and four before appearing in some discomfort and eventually decided to leave the field.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared an update on the skipper and tweeted:
"Team India captain Rohit Sharma has a back spasm. The BCCI medical team is monitoring his progress."
Despite losing their skipper to injury early in the chase, the Men in Blue eased to a seven-wicket victory courtesy of Suryakumar Yadav's brilliant 76-run knock off only 44 balls.
At a post-match presentation ceremony, the Indian captain was asked about the status of his injury. He replied:
"At the moment, it's okay. We've got a few days till the next game, hopefully it should be okay."
The star batter has had his fair share of fitness issues over the last few years. We list down the injuries Rohit has suffered since the start of 2020.
February 2020: Calf injury
Rohit was ruled out of the ODI and Test series against the Kiwis during their tour of New Zealand in early 2020 due to a calf injury. The cricketer hurt himself while batting in the fifth and final T20I of the series in Mount Maunganui.
He was on 54 when he got some treatment on the field from the team's physio. The right-hander continued batting and even hit a six off New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi. However, he couldn’t carry on for much longer and was forced to retire hurt on 60.
Captain Rohit Sharma is hopeful to be fully recovered before the fourth T20I against West Indies 💪🇮🇳
#RohitSharma #IndianCricketTeam #wivind #CricketTwitter https://t.co/BBuBE8Sz98
The injury came at a time when Rohit was in great form with the willow. He smashed 140 runs in four matches during the T20I series at an average of 46.66 93 and a strike rate of 150.53 with a best of 65.
October 2020: Hamstring injury
There was an unexpected break for Indian cricketers after the New Zealand tour as COVID-19 wreaked havoc across the globe. Even the Indian Premier League (IPL) had to be postponed. Not much had changed for Rohit with regards to his injury woes even as cricket resumed many months later.
Rohit missed out on some IPL 2020 matches for the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise after sustaining a hamstring injury. Due to fitness concerns, he was not named in any of the squads picked for the Australia tour in October 2020. India were scheduled to play three ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests Down Under.
He returned to lead MI in the knockouts and even top-scored in the final against the Delhi Capitals (DC) with 68 in 51 balls. Mumbai went on to lift their fifth IPL crown, but some fans and critics were wondering whether he would be able to make it to the Tests in Australia.
After plenty of confusion over his fitness, Rohit was eventually given the go-ahead to take part in the last two Tests of the tour of Australia. He did a decent job, registering scores of 26, 52, 44 and seven.
December 2021: Hamstring injury
Following his impressive performance in the Test series in England during the 2021 tour, there were high hopes from the Hitman ahead of the 2021-22 South Africa tour. Opening the innings in overseas Tests for the first time, Rohit ended as India’s top run-getter in England, scoring 368 runs in four matches at an average of 52.57.
Unfortunately for the Indian batter, he was ruled out of the Test tour of South Africa, having picked up a left hamstring injury during a net session in Mumbai. Priyank Panchal replaced him in the Test squad.
Rohit Sharma has been seated outside with players and looking fine. Good news for Team India 🇮🇳. 😊 https://t.co/xJ5GjeE4i7
Rohit was earlier named captain for the ODI series that was to be played after the conclusion of the Test series. However, he failed to recover in time and missed the three-match one-day series as well. KL Rahul led the team in his absence as India suffered a 0-3 whitewash.
Other reasons due to which Rohit missed India matches
New Zealand’s Test tour of India (2 Tests in Nov-Dec 2021) - Rested
South Africa tour of India (*5 T20Is in June 2022) - Rested
Rescheduled Test in England (July 2022) - Ruled out due to COVID-19
India’s one-dayers series in West Indies (3 ODIs in July 2022) - Rested
(*The fifth T20I of India-South Africa series was abandoned due to rain.)
Upcoming
India’s tour of Zimbabwe (3 ODIs in August 2022) - Rested
Also Read: “Bahar aaja overseas Test khatam ho gaya”: 5 instances of Rohit Sharma being trolled for different reasons