Why Rohit got late success in cricket?:How opening spot changed former captain’s fate; becomes oldest no.1 ODI batter

18 years after his debut and 276 ODIs later, Rohit Sharma finally became the number-1 ODI batsman on Wednesday. Rohit, who couldn’t secure a permanent spot in the team for 5 years, saw his career turn around after he started opening. He got captaincy at the age of 35, and at 38, he became the world’s oldest number-1 ODI batsman. Learn how Rohit Sharma’s career took turns in this story… Gained recognition from the Under-19 World Cup In the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, Team India played under the captaincy of Ravikant Shukla. The team lost to Pakistan in the final, but the tournament gave India future stars like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, and Rohit Sharma. Pujara became the Player of the Series by scoring 349 runs. Rohit became India’s third top scorer in the tournament. He scored 202 runs with 3 fifties. Rohit was performing well for Mumbai in domestic cricket. Based on this performance, he got the opportunity to make his ODI debut in 2007. In the same year, he also made his T20 debut and became part of the World Cup-winning Team India. Temporary place in the ODI team for first 5 years After his debut, Rohit kept going in and out of the team. He was getting opportunities to bat in the middle order, where he couldn’t make much of an impact. Rohit played all T20| World Cups until 2012, but couldn’t secure a spot in the 2009 Champions Trophy and the 2011 ODI World Cup. By 2012, Rohit had only scored around 2000 ODI runs in 86 matches with a modest average of 30. Only 2 players had taken more innings than him to score 2000 ODI runs for India. During this period, he did score 5 fifties in T20Is, but the magic expected from him had not yet materialised. Opening spot changed fate In January 2013, India played a series against England on home ground. India lost the Test series, while the T20I series ended in a 1-1 draw. England won the first match of the ODI series. India made a comeback in the series by winning the second and third matches. India made a big change in the fourth ODI. Regular opener Ajinkya Rahane was dropped, and Rohit was given the opportunity to open in his place. On January 23, 2013, Mohali ground, and Team India was facing the No. 1 ODI team, England. With the series at stake, India came out with new opener, Rohit. England scored 257 runs. In response, Rohit scored 83 runs off 93 balls, hitting 11 fours and 1 six. His innings took the team to the target of 258 runs. Eventually, India won the match by 5 wickets and clinched the series. In the last ODI of the series, Rohit could only score 4 runs, but his performance in the fourth ODI fixed his spot in the Champions Trophy, which is 4 months away. Rohit opened here with Shikhar Dhawan and gave India a strong start in 4 out of 5 matches. Both made 2 fifties and 2 century partnerships. Rohit scored 2 fifties and could not cross the 10-run mark only in the final. Scored 3 double tons in 5 years Rohit dominated the opening spot in just one year. After the Champions Trophy, India played an ODI series against Australia in the same year. Before the last ODI, the series was tied at 2-2. The final match took place on 2nd November. In Bengaluru, Rohit and Dhawan gave a strong start to the team that came out to bat first. Dhawan was out after scoring 60 runs, and immediately after him, Virat Kohli, who had already scored 2 centuries in the series, was run out. The entire responsibility fell on Rohit, who scored a double century and took India to 383 runs. This was his first double century in his international career. India won the match by 57 runs and clinched the series. After his first double century in 2013, Rohit also scored his second in 2014 and third in 2017. In the 2017 Champions Trophy, Rohit was also the second-highest scorer after Shikhar Dhawan. Within 5 years, he scored more than 160 runs in ODIs five times. This included an innings of 171 runs in Australia. Scored 5 centuries in 2019 World Cup Rohit’s peak form emerged in the 2019 ODI World Cup, in which he scored 5 centuries while opening the innings. He failed to convert his fifty into a century only once in the tournament. Against Australia, he scored 57 runs, giving the team a strong start. Alongside him, Dhawan scored a century, leading the team to victory. Rohit became the top scorer of the tournament, but the team lost in the semi-finals and could not win the title. Virat and Babar stayed atop in ODIs, keeping Rohit at bay From 2013 to 2019, Rohit was in his peak form, but due to Virat Kohli’s top position, Rohit could not become the No. 1 ODI batter. During this period, he also achieved his career-best rating of 882, but Virat remained at the top with 909 points. When Virat moved from the top, Pakistan’s Babar Azam took over the first position, and Rohit’s longing did not end there. During this time, Babar had 898 points. Rohit entered the top 10 for the first time in 2016, and in 2018, he got the No. 2 spot for the first time. Even until 2024, Rohit remained around the No. 2 spot, but could not reach the top. Became no. 1 after Player of the Series On February 19, 2025, India’s Shubman Gill removed Babar from the top position. Shubman remained at No. 1 for 7 months and kept Rohit waiting. At that time, Shubman had 796 points. In the Champions Trophy, both Shubman and Rohit were top scorers, due to which they remained in the top-3 positions in the rankings. After about 7 months, India played an ODI series in October. Shubman flopped in all three matches and could not even score 50 runs in the series. On the other hand, Rohit scored a fifty in the second ODI and a century in the third. His performance of 202 runs not only made him the Player of the Series but also the No. 1 ODI batsman in the latest ICC rankings. Rohit, at 38 years and 182 days, became the oldest number-1 batsman. He broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record, who became the number-1 batter at the age of 38 years and 73 days. Rohit will now be seen playing an ODI against South Africa on November 30. Became captain after 35 Just as Rohit’s batting career began to shine after a 5-year wait, similarly, his captaincy career also began after the age of 35. In 2022, after Virat, Rohit got the captaincy in all three formats. Rohit gave his best in ODI and T20I cricket. In the 2022 T20I World Cup, India lost in the semi-finals, after which Rohit decided to change the team’s mindset. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, India reached the final by winning 10 consecutive matches, but faced defeat against Australia. Won ICC Title for India after 11 years On November 19, 2023, India lost the ODI World Cup. Just 6 months later, the T20I World Cup was played among 20 teams. Under Rohit’s captaincy, India remained unbeaten and once again reached the final. The team defeated South Africa by a narrow margin of 7 runs and ended the 11-year drought of winning an ICC trophy. India won the T20I World Cup after 17 years, under Rohit’s captaincy. Rohit also won his first international title as a player in the form of the T20I World Cup. He also led India to victory in the Champions Trophy in 2025 along winning two Asia Cups with the team. Better success rate than Dhoni in ICC Tournaments In terms of winning ICC trophies for India, Rohit Sharma was India’s second-best captain. MS Dhoni led the team to three different ICC trophies. However, in terms of winning percentage across all tournaments, Rohit was even ahead of Dhoni. Under Rohit’s captaincy, India played 35 ICC matches and lost only 6. This means India won approximately 83% of the matches. On the other hand, under Dhoni’s captaincy, India played 11 ICC tournaments, won 3, and lost the final once. 7 times the team could not reach the final. During this period, the team’s winning percentage was 73%. Retired with a subdued performance in Tests Rohit’s career in Tests also started to shine very late. Rohit made his Test debut in 2013 and scored 2 centuries. By 2018, he could not even fit into the Test team. In 2019, he started opening here as well. In 2020, he started performing better, and in 2021, he went to England, scored a century, and won the opening spot again. Rohit had just about understood the Test mindset when, in 2022, he was made the captain of this format. In 2023, the team faced defeat against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. In 2024, the team lost the series 0-3 against New Zealand on home soil. Later on, the team also failed to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Rohit failed in both series, both as captain and as a player. In May 2025, the Test team for the England tour was to be announced, and there were speculations that he would be removed from captaincy. Even before the team was announced, he bid farewell to Test cricket on 7 May. Rohit also retired from T20Is on June 29, 2024. He now, like Kohli, plays only ODI cricket. Now, both of the veteran players eye winning the 2027 ODI World Cup, a long-awaited dream for the star cricketers.