"Watched his videos like 100 times before I went in to bat" - Rohit Sharma picks Dale Steyn as toughest bowler encountered in his career
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma named former South African pacer Dale Steyn the toughest bowler he has encountered in his illustrious career. The champion batter has scored almost 19,000 runs in his international career with 48 centuries in 472 games.
Meanwhile, Steyn finished his career as arguably the greatest match-winner in Tests, with 439 wickets at an average of 22.95. He also bagged 260 scalps in the two white-ball formats in his stellar international career.
In a conversation with Dubai Eye 103.8, Rohit Sharma pointed to Steyn's ability to swing the ball at pace as the toughest to negotiate.
"I have gone and watched his videos like 100 times before I went in to bat. That was Dale Steyn. He is an absolute legend of the game. And what he has achieved in his career is just superb to watch. And I have faced him many times. He is quick. He used to swing the ball at that pace, which is not easy. It is quite tough. And he was a fierce competitor," said Rohit.
He added:
"He just went out there wanting to do everything, to win every game and every session, so it was nice to come up against him. Not that I had much success against him, but I enjoyed my battles."
Ironically, Dale Steyn has dismissed Rohit only once in international cricket during India's 2013 Test series in South Africa. While the Indian legend has scored at a strike rate of only 63.20 against Steyn in ODIs, he has never been dismissed by the South African.
Coming to T20s, Steyn has never dismissed Rohit in an international game but has done so once in the IPL. Rohit has also scored a snail-paced strike rate of only 80.40 against Steyn in the IPL.
"Still hope to play a few more years as well & make an impact in World cricket" - Rohit Sharma
During the same interaction, Rohit Sharma also stated his wish to play international cricket for a few more years before hanging his boots.
The 37-year-old debuted for India in 2007, making an immediate impact in their title run in the inaugural T20 World Cup that year.
"The journey has been wonderful, it has been 17 years; I still hope to play a few more years as well & make an impact in World cricket," said Rohit.
He also spoke about the honor of leading the country by saying:
"Captaining your country is the biggest honour that you can have, and for me, I have never thought that this would arrive where I'll be captaining one day. But yeah, people say good things happen to good people."
Rohit is playing for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ongoing IPL 2024 and will lead Team India in the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA, starting June 1.