"He delivered milk packets so that he could buy his kit" - When Pragyan Ojha recalled Rohit Sharma's struggling days
India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma is one of the biggest superstars of world cricket. He recently led the Men in Blue to victory in the T20 World Cup held in the West Indies and the United States. Rohit has also led the Mumbai Indians (MI) to five title triumphs in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
While Rohit leads a lavish life on the back of his achievements in international and franchise cricket, he comes from a humble background. Belonging to a middle-class family in Mumbai, the batter's journey to the top has not been a bed of roses.
In an interview given to JioCinema in March 2023, Rohit’s former India and Mumbai Indians teammate Pragyan Ojha recalled when the star cricketer delivered milk packets to buy his cricket kit.
"When I first met Rohit in the U-15 national camp, everyone said he was a very special player. There, I played against him and took his wicket. Rohit was a typical Bombay guy who didn’t speak much but was aggressive when he played. In fact, I was very surprised as to why he was being so aggressive with me when we didn’t know each other! But after that our friendship began to grow,” the former left-arm spinner recalled in an emotional interview.
“He was from a middle-class family and I remember he once got emotional when we discussed how his budget for cricket kits was restricted. In fact, he also delivered milk packets – of course that was really a long time ago – so that he could buy his kit. Now when I see him, I feel very proud of how our journey started and where we reached,” Ojha went on to add.
Ojha (38) represented Mumbai Indians from 2012 to 2015 and won two IPL titles with the franchise. He played 24 Tests, 18 ODIs, and six T20Is for India, claiming 144 international wickets. Of his scalps, 113 came in the Test format at an average of 30.26, with seven five-fers and one 10-wicket match haul.
Rohit Sharma is the 4th highest run-getter for India in international cricket
Speaking of Rohit, he is currently India’s fourth-highest run-getter in international cricket. In 484 matches (511 innings) across the three formats, the right-handed batter has amassed 19,245 runs at an average of 43.15, with 48 hundreds and 106 half-centuries.
Sachin Tendulkar leads the list of batters with the most runs for India in international cricket. He amassed 34,357 runs in 664 matches. The Master Blaster is followed by Virat Kohli (26,965) and Rahul Dravid (24,064) on the illustrious list.