"This guy is going to be the next Mumbai player to play for India"- Former selector reveals how Rohit Sharma's potential was spotted

Former India batter and selector Jatin Paranjpe recently revealed that his father, the late Vasoo Paranjape, told him that Rohit Sharma would be the next player from Mumbai to play for India. The former southpaw said that his father referred to the 38-year-old as the next big thing after Sachin Tendulkar, and "take the world by storm".

Paranjpe also emphasised the role played by former India gloveman and chief selector Kiran More in lifting his career when he was young. He said on the "A Century of Stories" podcast with Cyrus Broacha:

"I remember my father (Vasoo Paranjape) was the chief talent scout of the MCA. He came back saying, 'Jatin, after Sachin (Tendulkar), I have seen somebody who will take the world by storm'. I said, 'Who is it?'. He said, 'There is this boy called Rohit Sharma, who hasn't played any cricket and they don't rate him, but I have had a chat with a couple of coaches today and they have picked him in the developmental squad'. I said, 'Yeah, we have heard of him too in the Mumbai dressing room'. He said, 'This guy is going to be the next Mumbai player to play for India'.

"For players like these, you need a lot of strategic planning to be had in your career. That cannot be done by a player. So for me, Kiran More being a part of the selection committee when Rohit was just kind of coming up was a very, very big advantage. Because Kiran has got a super, super eye for talent. Kiran picked him before the MCA picked him. He played for India A before he played for Mumbai. Those are the kind of people you need".

Sharma debuted for India in an ODI against Ireland in Belfast in June 2007. A few months later, he was part of the team that won the T20 World Cup under MS Dhoni's leadership. At the beginning of 2008, he was picked for the white-ball tour of Australia, where he impressed in a victorious campaign for the Men in Blue.

---

Jatin Paranjpe credits Ravi Shastri for elevating Rohit Sharma to open in Tests for India

A key turning point in Rohit Sharma's Test career came when he was asked to open the innings. Jatin Paranjpe revealed that it was the then-head coach Ravi Shastri's decision to push him to the top of the order.

He also claimed that Sharma could have been a much better Test cricketer than what he turned out to be, saying:

"That's the big moment (When Ravi Shastri tells him to open the batting). I remember I was part of the selection committee at that time. That was Ravi Shastri's idea (to get Rohit Sharma to open the batting). Superb thinker. Ravi is 3-4 steps ahead of everybody when it comes to reading the game."

"I remember he was not playing Test cricket for India. And we had this conversation, and he said, 'I started playing cricket with a red ball, Jatin. How can you say that I am not interested in Test cricket?' I got the message and I was hoping that that was what he would say. He said he lives for Test cricket. I think Rohit Sharma could have done a lot more in Test cricket. I think he would be the first one to say that as well. I was a little bit disappointed that he chose to drop himself in Sydney because we could have levelled the series," Paranjpe said.

The former selector also felt that labelling Rohit Sharma's batting as languid and lazy was very unfair to him. He also cited the example of how he took the initiative on himself to get India off to blazing starts during the 2023 ODI World Cup. Paranjpe said,

"What happened during the 2023 World Cup. The captain of India, Rohit Sharma. They decided that they are going to go. And guess what? The captain stands up and says, 'I'm going to go'. Every game he went hammer and tongs after the ball and I was like, 'Boss, this is called leadership'. Where there's a risky role to be done, you are not passing it on to a Gill. He just went on and on and on. That spilled over to Test cricket. That was his style of play. I think all these comparisons about languid, lazy are very, very unfair on Rohit."

Rohit Sharma retired from T20Is after captaining India to the World Cup triumph in 2024. He retired from Test cricket in May 2025 but remains available to play 50-over cricket. However, there is no clarity over his next assignment after the ODI series against Bangladesh was postponed to September 2026.