"The journey of becoming the GOAT"- Fans react as Team India captain Rohit Sharma finishes 16 years in International cricket

Team India captain Rohit Sharma finished 16 years in International cricket on Friday, June 23. The stalwart made his debut back in 2007 on the same day in an ODI against Ireland at Belfast, under current head coach Rahul Dravid's captaincy.

He did not get a chance to either bat or bowl in the contest. Team India chased down the target of 171 easily, courtesy of match-winning knocks from Gautam Gambhir (80*) and Sourav Ganguly (73*).

Rohit went on to make his T20 debut later in September of the same year at the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa. He played a couple of useful knocks, including a pivotal 30* (16) in the final against Pakistan, to announce himself on the big stage.

He continued to display glimpses of his massive potential in the upcoming years, but consistency eluded him. Rohit failed to cement his place in the Indian playing XI and was also ignored for the 2011 World Cup.

Team management promoted him to the opening slot late in 2012, after which his international career started blossoming. Since then, Rohit Sharma has become one of the all-time great openers in white ball cricket by smashing runs across the globe and against stern opponents. He also reinvented himself as a Test opener in 2019 and has been a consistent performer ever since in the format.

As the Indian captain completed 16 years in international cricket on Friday, fans took to Twitter to reminisce about his journey. Here are some of the reactions:

Rohit Sharma will return to action in July to lead Team India on West Indies tour

Team India lost in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia earlier this month under Rohit's leadership. With no cricketing action for the rest of June, all the players have been rejuvenating themselves away from the field by spending time with their families.

The action will resume in July when Team India will tour West Indies for Test, ODI, and T20I series. It will commence on July 12 when the two sides square off in the first Test.

Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.

ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar

About the author

Balakrishna has been a cricket writer at Sportskeeda for almost seven years. A sport that he has been following and playing since he was eight, Balakrishna enjoys the intensity of the sport, skills and strategies applied to get a result out of nowhere, and the thrill that it gives. He also played as a medium pace bowling all-rounder in four inter-college tournaments, winning twice.

Balakrishna’s all-time favorite cricketers are Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma. He admires Sachin’s stellar performances against legendary bowlers, along with his discipline and humility. Meanwhile, he is a big fan of how Rohit turned around his initial struggles to build a successful career.

He avidly supports Team India and 2016 IPL winners SunRisers Hyderabad. The first World Cup that Balakrishna ever saw was the 2003 World Cup, when Australia comprehensively triumphed over India in the final.

While working, he ensures he only uses reliable sources and provides relevant, ethical, and accurate information. When not working, Balakrishna enjoys playing table tennis and reading non-fiction books.

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