Rohit Sharma reflects on India's victorious campaign under Dhoni in 2007 T20 WC
Back in 2007, world cricket witnessed the very first T20 World Cup which was hosted in South Africa. Much has changed in the sport since then, including the game itself and how players have approached it. And very few have seen the best of both worlds. India captain Rohit Sharma stands as one of the four players who were part of the inaugural World Cup 15 years back. India had scripted a triumphant campaign under then skipper MS Dhoni that year, which subsequently marked the beginning of a new era in Indian cricket. Ahead of the start of 2022 T20 World Cup, Rohit, who hopes to emulate the former India captain in his campaign in Australia this year, recalled being part of the victorious Indian side and how T20 in totality has changed over the years.
Twenty-year-old Rohit Sharma had made his debut in T20 World Cup against England, but did not get the opportunity to bat. Rohit was then a middle-order batter for India. In his second game, against hosts South Africa, he had scored an unbeaten half-century in 40 balls and later scored an unbeaten 30 in just 16 balls against Pakistan in the final.
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Over the course of his illustrious career, Rohit has since played 142 T20Is for India. With 3737 runs, laced with 32 fifty-plus scores, Rohit has been India's full-time skipper since the last World Cup in the UAE.
On Friday, when he recalled his very first T20 World Cup experience, he revealed that he knew very little about the format and had no idea what it was like being part of a World Cup squad until India won the trophy.
"When I was picked for that World Cup I did not go with any expectations about myself," Rohit said in Melbourne. "I just wanted to enjoy the tournament and play the tournament as it was my first ever World Cup. I had no understanding of what it was like to be part of a World Cup and how big it was going to be until we actually won the World Cup."
Rohit, who will be playing his eighth T20 World Cup this time and will be among the four players including teammate Dinesh Karthik who were part of both the inaugural T20 World Cup and and this year, then talked about how the game has changed over the course of 15 years.
"It has been a long journey and the game has evolved so much," Rohit reflected. "You can literally see how it is played now compared to what it was like in 2007. 140 or 150 was a good score back then and now people try and get that score in 14 or 15 overs."
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