5 things you may not have known about Rohit Sharma

Meteoric rise to India's Champions Trophy probables before playing a first-class match

Rohit Sharma is a constant fixture in the Indian limited-overs side but the same cannot be said about his spot in the Test team. Perhaps that is down to the fact that he is more in tune with the shorter formats and his game is more suited to it. But, it might also be because he started playing it first and that is what comes to him naturally.

One look at his records will tell you that he actually played a List-A game and even was in the 30-member probables for India's Champions Trophy squad in 2006 before he had even played a first-class game. He made his List-A debut in a Deodhar Trophy match for West Zone and it was his performances in that tournament coupled with his exploits with the India A side in Abu Dhabi and Australia that led to his inclusion in the probables list, even if he didn't make the final cut.

And all of this was before he made his first class debut, nearly five months after his List-A debut. His overall record suggests that he is a better long format player (averages 54.3 in first-class matches) and Indian fans will be hoping that is true in the upcoming 12 months where they play loads of Tests.