The former New Zealand international, Scott Styris revealed that he saw that Rohit Sharma was meant for something special as the two shared the dressing room during their stint with the now-defunct Deccan Chargers franchise in the Indian Premier League.
“It (IPL 2008) was my first opportunity to be a teammate and see (and hear of ) Rohit Sharma. He was with us at the Deccan Chargers. He was 19 or 20 years old at that time and I could see then that this kid was something special. I’ve just come back from Sri Lanka where I commentated on India vs Sri Lanka, caught up with him there and he’s still the same guy that he was 16 years ago,” said Styris to cricket.com.
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The former Kiwi player believed that the Chargers had a solid squad to be deemed favourites at the time. But their performances did not match their expectations as they finished bottom of the table in the 2008 edition of the IPL. One of the key issues int he side was the lack of clarity regarding a balanced playing 11.
“The very first year we were favourites to win it and we came last. Part of that was because we didn’t have a great balance. We had great names on paper but you’re only allowed to play four overseas players,” he commented.
“We’d either load up the batting and the bowling would be weak, or we’d load up the bowling and the batting would be weak. When we tried to load it up with all-rounders, we were a little bit bits and pieces and weren’t quite strong enough in any of them and ended up coming last,” he added.
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But in the second season of the tournament, the Chargers went on to go all the way and win the title under the leadership of the Australian wicketkeeping legend, Adam Gilchrist.
After the 2011 auctions, Rohit then moved to the Mumbai Indians where he managed to take the franchise right to the very top. As the skipper he led the team to five titles and is currently leading the Indian team as well in the ODI and Test formats. Rohit called time on his T20I career after leading Team India to the T20 World Cup 2024.
(with IANS Inputs)
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