The previous Kiwi all-rounder and one of the finest T20 players of his time, Scott Styris, recently in an interview claimed how he saw Rohit Sharma’s potential back in 2008 when he shared the dressing room with the 20-year-old.
Styris said to the Cricket journalists
“It (the 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 commented on India vs. Sri Lanka. I caught up with him there, and he’s still the same guy that he was 16 years ago,”
Styris was a part of the Deccan Chargers unit in 2008, the inaugural season when they seemed to be the best team on paper, having the biggest of names. However, even Styris remarked that it was the lack of balance that led to their failure as they ended at the bottom of the table.
It was during his time in 2008 and 2009, the year Deccan Chargers lifted the trophy under Aussie skipper Adam Gilchrist, that both Rohit Sharma and Scott Styris shared a common space. He also shared that Rohit, after all these 16 years, still remains the same, as the two met during his visit to Sri Lanka, where Styris was present as a commentator.
Rohit Sharma was last seen with India in the T20 World Cup trophy in the United States, where he emerged as the World Cup-winning captain for India, which ended their trophy drought for 11 years since the Champions Trophy and also their 13-year World Cup trophy drought.
Rohit was moved to the Mumbai Indians camp in the IPL 2011 auction from the Deccan Chargers, as he emerged to be an immensely successful player and a skipper in the Mumbai camp. He led the Mumbaikars to a 5-time IPL championship, as he became one of the most successful IPL captains.
Rohit’s legacy is truly amazing if seen today, and Styris said he had seen the potential and his brilliance years back when Sharma was just a kid, roughly 20 or 21 years of age. After having announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game, he turned his fortune towards the longest format and is currently eyeing the World Test Championship after India failed to win it twice despite qualifying for the finals.
Rohit will next be seen captaining the Indian side for the Bangladesh tour, followed by the New Zealand home tour. The biggest challenge for him comes with India travelling to the Australian island for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later in November this year.
