Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir heaped praise on national captain Rohit Sharma after he completed 10,000 runs in ODI cricket during the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Rohit became the fifth Indian and 15th batter overall to get to the landmark. He is the second fastest ever to achieve the feat behind teammate and former skipper Virat Kohli.
But Gambhir also credited ex-India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Rohit Sharma's success in white-ball cricket.
Dhoni had famously asked Rohit to open the batting in ODIs during the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and the rest is history.
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Rohit's career completely changed after he shifted from being a middle order batter to an opener and today, he is regarded as one of the best white-ball players of all time.
"Rohit Sharma is Rohit Sharma today because of MS Dhoni. MS backed him continuously in his initial struggling phase," Gambhir said on Star Sports.
Rohit Sharma's ODI average went from 12.92 in 2012 to 52 in 2013 after the Champions Trophy which Indai won under Dhoni and he hasn't looked back since then.
He even earned the name of Hitman and is the only batter in world cricket with three triple hundreds in the 50-over format.
Rohit also holds the world record for the highest individual score in ODIs, 264 vs Sri Lanka in 2014.
When Dhoni revealed why he made Rohit open
Earlier this year, Dhoni actually explained the reason behind he backed Rohit to open for India.
“We have to see what others are not seeing. Rohit Sharma is one of the best examples. He accepted the challenge of becoming an opener.
"In limited-overs, he is one of the best openers who is playing right now. You have to at times think out of the box. We were like the amount of talent this guy has, I have to make him play. For that, if I have to make him an opener, I will do it,” Dhoni had said.
Rohit's success catapulted him to captaincy as well and he now leads Team India in all three formats.
