How Rohit Sharma Turned From Off-Spinner To Top Order Batter?

Rohit Sharma, when he entered the Indian team in 2007, came in as a number six batter who could roll his arm over. He had made a rapport in the domestic circuit of being more than just a part-time off-spinner. 

Now, it might be common knowledge that Rohit started as an off-spinner, but very few people would know why and how the Indian ODI captain changed trades at the age of 14. 

Rohit’s childhood coach, Dinesh Lad, explained the process during his interaction with famous podcaster Gaurav Manglani. 

“I first saw him as a bowler. He was about 12 years old. I saw him playing a match against us. Then I told his uncle (Chacha) to get him admitted to my school. I saw Rohit in 1999. He took admission that year in the under-14 batch. During practice, I kept making him bowl,” Indian Express quoted Lad as saying on the podcast. 

Explaining how he first saw Rohit bat, Lad, who is also the father of Mumbai cricketer Siddhesh Lad, said, “Next year, I feel he should be kept in both the under-16 and under-14 teams. One day, while entering school, I saw a boy knocking (batting). From outside, I saw the bat was coming very straight and well. I didn’t know it was Rohit at first. When I went inside, I asked him if he was batting. He said 'yes, sir'.

“Then I gave him some batting in the nets at number six or seven. Before that, I had never given him batting practice. That was my mistake,” added Rohit’s childhood coach. 

It was during the Harris Shield practice that Lad found out that Rohit was more than a decent batter and deserved a chance to bat higher up the order. 

“He batted well. In a match, he went in at number seven and scored 40 runs. Very good 40, but unfortunately, we lost the match. When the under-14 practice for the Giles Shield started, after the Harris Shield, I gave him batting at second and third position in the nets. The way he was batting, I felt he had a very good talent for batting. So it was important for him to focus on it. I told him to focus more on batting but keep bowling too,” Lad said.

Rohit remains the only player in IPL history to have a century and a hat-trick to his name.