What happened on Rohit Sharma’s ODI debut vs Ireland in 2007?
Rohit Sharma made his ODI debut on June 23, 2007 against Ireland at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast. 16 years have passed since that game, and Sharma is now the Indian cricket team's captain in all three formats.
Not many fans would know that India visited Ireland for matches against Ireland and South Africa after the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The Men in Blue had a forgettable 2007 World Cup campaign, where they were eliminated in the first round after defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Ireland, who made their debut at the grandest stage in 2007, stunned the cricket universe by qualifying for the second round. Ireland defeated former world champions Pakistan in the group stage to advance to the Super 8s. The Irish team also upset Bangladesh in the next round.
After Ireland's performance in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, multiple Test-playing nations visited Ireland to play against them. India were one of them, and here's a look at what happened in the only ODI between the two nations during the 2007 tour.
Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly inspired India to a comfortable 9-wicket win
Current Indian head coach Rahul Dravid captained India in that match against Ireland. Because of the rainy weather, the visitors opted to field first after winning the toss. Rohit Sharma was the only debutant in the star-studded Indian lineup. On the other side, Ireland handed maiden ODI caps to Gary Wilson, Thinus Fourie and Roger Whelan.
Wicket-keeper batter Niall O'Brien was the lone warrior for Ireland in that ODI match. He scored a 79-ball 52 while batting at number four. None of the other Irish batters could touch the 35-run mark. Captain Trent Johnston scored 34 runs off 44 balls for the home side.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla emerged as the pick of the bowlers for India. He bowled 10 overs, conceding 29 runs and picking up three wickets. Chawla troubled the Irish batters with his leg-spin and bowled two maiden overs in his 10-over spell.
Fast bowler Sreesanth also picked up three wickets for the Men in Blue. RP Singh bowled a fantastic spell of 2/36, while Ajit Agarkar and Sachin Tendulkar picked up a wicket each. Ireland were bowled out for 193 runs in 50 overs.
In reply, India's target was reduced to 171 runs in 39 overs due to rain interruption. India lost Sachin Tendulkar's wicket in the first over itself. Gautam Gambhir united forces with Sourav Ganguly, and the two left-handed batters guided India home in 34.5 overs with nine wickets in hand.
Gambhir remained not out on 80, while Ganguly aggregated 73 runs off 99 balls. Gambhir won the Man of the Match for his 80-run knock.
How did Rohit Sharma perform on his ODI debut?
Interestingly, Rohit Sharma neither batted nor bowled in his career's first international match for India at the senior level. Since India lost only one wicket, Rohit Sharma, who would bat in the middle-order then, did not get a chance to bat.
Rahul Dravid did not use Rohit Sharma's off-spin in the first innings as well. Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar bowled a total of 10 overs, but Sharma did not get one over.