Had difficulties while facing Brett Lee and Dale Steyn in nascent stages of my career – Rohit Sharma

India’s vice-captain Rohit Sharma accepted the fact that he faced some difficulties when he was confronted by Australia’s paceman Brett Lee and Proteas’ Dale Steyn when he started out in his International career. The veteran batsman, who has taken giant strides in the last seven years, added Brett Lee breathed down his neck with the help of express pace.

On the other hand, Dale Steyn was at his prime when Rohit Sharma was taking baby steps in his early career. Meanwhile, Brett Lee dismissed Rohit on two occasions in the ODI fold whereas Steyn got the better of him on a solitary occasion in the Test format.

Both of these bowlers were quick and accurate in their line and length, which made it difficult for the batsmen to face them. They were mostly right on the money and hardly gave an inch to the batsmen.

“When I came into the side (India), the fastest bowler in the world used to be Brett Lee. In my debut ODI series, I went to Ireland to face South Africa, and Dale Steyn was pretty quick then as well. When I started playing, I really liked Lee and Steyn, I had difficulties in facing them as well,” Rohit told Mohammed Shami during an Instagram Live chat session.

On the other hand, Rohit also picked South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood as two of the best bowlers of the current generation. Rabada has swing and pace under his belt and he is ruthless in his approach. Hazlewood, on the other side, has the patience and resistance to keep bowling in the corridor of uncertainty.

“When I came into the side (India), the fastest bowler in the world used to be Brett Lee. In my debut ODI series, I went to Ireland to face South Africa, and Dale Steyn was pretty quick then as well. When I started playing, I really liked Lee and Steyn, I had difficulties in facing them as well,” Rohit told Mohammed Shami during an Instagram Live chat session.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma is one of the best white ball batsmen in the world. The right-hander has churned out great numbers in the last seven years and his records speaks for himself. He is the solitary ODI batsman to score three double centuries. The Indian opener rated his double century against Australia in 2013 as his most favourite knock.

Rohit was in the form of his life in the 2019 ICC World Cup as he finished as the leading run-getter with 648 runs in nine matches at an average of 81 and strike rate of 98.33. The talisman also created a record of scoring five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup.

Written by: Gautam Chauhan