Sharma currently holds the world record for the highest individual score (264) in a One Day International (ODI) match and is the only player to have scored three double centuries in ODIs and also holds the record for most hundreds (five) in an ODI match in a single Cricket World Cup, for which he won the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year award in 2019. Sharma has received two national awards, the Arjuna Award in 2015 and the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2020. Under his captaincy, India won the 2018 Asia Cup and the 2023 Asia Cup, the seventh and eighth time that Country won the title, both in the ODI format and the 2018 Nidahas Trophy, their second overall and first in the T20I format.

Outside cricket, Sharma is an active supporter of animal welfare campaigns. He is the official Rhino Ambassador of WWF-India and a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He collaborated with PETA on the campaign to raise awareness about the plight of homeless cats and dogs in India.

Early Life

Sharma was born on 30 April 1987 in Bansod, Nagpur, Maharashtra into a Telugu-Marathi family. His mother, Purnima Sharma, hails from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. His father, Gurunath Sharma, worked as a janitor in a transport company's warehouse. Due to his father's low income, Sharma was raised by his grandparents and uncles in Borivali. He visited his parents, who lived in a one-room house in Dombivli, only on weekends. He has a younger brother, Vishal Sharma.

Sharma attended a cricket camp in 1999 using his uncle's money. Dinesh Lad, his coach at the camp, asked him to change his school to Swami Vivekanand International School, where Lad was the coach and the cricket facilities were better than those at Sharma's old school. Sharma recalls, “I told him I couldn’t afford it, but he got me a scholarship. So I didn't pay a penny for four years and did well in cricket." Sharma started as an off-spinner who could bat a little before Lad noticed his batting skills and promoted him from number eight to open the innings. He shone in the Harris and Giles Shield school cricket tournaments, scoring a century on his debut as an opener.

Youth and Domestic First-Class Career

Sharma made his List A debut for West Zone against Central Zone in March 2005 in the Deodhar Trophy in Gwalior. Batting in eighth place, he failed to score 31 as the West Zone won by 3 wickets and 24 balls remaining. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja debuted in the same match. It was Sharma's unbeaten innings of 142 in 123 balls against North Zone at Maharanna Bhupal College Ground in Udaipur in the same tournament that put him in the spotlight. He visited Abu Dhabi and Australia with India's A squad and was then included in India's 30-man probability list for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy tournament, although he didn't make the final squad.

Sharma made his first-class debut for India A against New Zealand A in Darwin in July 2006. He scored 57 and 22 as India won by 3 wickets. He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in the 2006/07 season, scoring 205 of 267 balls against Gujarat. Mumbai went on to win the tournament, with Sharma scoring a half-century (57) in his second inning in the final against Bengal.

Sharma has spent his entire domestic first-class career in Mumbai. In December 2009, he didn't make his highest career score of 309 in the Ranji Trophy against Gujarat. In October 2013, following the retirement of Ajit Agarkar, he was appointed team captain ahead of the 2013–14 season.

International Career
Test Matches

In November 2013, during Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series, Sharma made his Test debut at Eden Gardens in Kolkata against the West Indies, scoring 177, the second highest score in an Indian debut behind Shikhar Dhawan (187). He followed with 111 (not out) in the second test at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Sharma had not been on the Test team since 2017/18 and went on the 2018/19 tour of Australia after previously being called back. Chief selector M.S.K. Prasad said the reason for his recall was that his natural play suited the bouncy Australian pitches. Sharma played in Adelaide in the first Test, scoring 37 and 1 in an Indian win. He suffered a minor injury during the first test, which made him miss the second test in Perth. He recovered for the third Test at Boxing Day in Melbourne and scored 63 (not out) to help India with a 443/7 overall and win both the Test and the series. After the third test, Sharma had to return to India for the birth of his daughter.

In October 2019, in the third test against South Africa, Sharma scored his 2,000. run and his first double century in tests. He made 212 in the first innings of the game. Sharma was named vice-captain of the Indian Test team during the 2020 tour of Australia, replacing Cheteshwar Pujara.

Sharma had a successful home series against England in 2021. He was instrumental in his side's comeback from a loss in the first Test in Chennai and achieved a century that The Guardian says "deserves to be considered one of the greatest of this century". He put on 167 runs with Ajinkya Rahane for the fourth wicket while making 161 runs in an inning that included 18 fours and two sixes. India won the Test by 317 runs. He scored the highest for his team in both innings of the third low-scoring Test in Ahmedabad with scores of 66 and 25 that helped his team win. He finished the streak with 345 runs, the most for India, with 58.

He scored his first overseas Test century on 4 September 2021 with 127 innings against England at The Oval, also reaching the goal of 3,000 runs in Test cricket. Sharma and KL Rahul became the first opening pair to score 300+ runs for India in a single Test series in England.

Sharma was named captain of the Indian Test team in February 2022, replacing Virat Kohli, ahead of a two-match series against Sri Lanka. Sunil Gavaskar praised his leadership and Chetan Sharma, India's selection chairman, said: "We will train future captains under him."

2015 and 2019 Cricket World Cups

In March 2015, Sharma made his Cricket World Cup debut and represented India in eight matches at the 2015 tournament in Australia. India reached the semifinals where they were defeated by Australia. Sharma scored 330 runs in the tournament with a century, a score of 137 in the quarterfinals against Bangladesh.

On April 15, 2019, Sharma was named vice-captain of the India squad for the 2019 tournament in England. In the opening game against South Africa, he scored 122 goals, including his 12,000. Run in international cricket. In the match against Sri Lanka, he became the first batsman to score in the same World Cup tournament for five centuries, equaling Tendulkar's record for most centuries in all World Cup matches. Sharma scored a total of 648 runs in the tournament to finish as top run scorer and become the third Indian player to win the ICC's Golden Bat award.

Other One-Day Internationals

Sharma made his full international debut on 23 June 2007 in Belfast in a one-day match against Ireland. This was part of the 2007 Future Cup competition, also involving South Africa. He was seventh in batting order but failed to bat as India won the game by 9 wickets.

On 18 November 2007 in Jaipur he scored his first ODI half century (52) against Pakistan and was selected for the Indian team for the 2007–08 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia. In that series he scored 235 runs averaging 33.57 with 2 fifties including 66 in the first final in Sydney when he teamed with Sachin Tendulkar for most of India's successful run hunts. After that, however, his ODI performances suffered a dip and he lost his middle position to Suresh Raina. Later, Virat Kohli took over his position as reserve batsman. In December 2009, after his triple century in the Ranji Trophy, he was recalled to the ODI team for the Tri-Nations tournament in Bangladesh as Tendulkar decided to rest in the series.

He scored his first ODI century (114) against Zimbabwe on May 28, 2010 and followed that up with another century in the next Tri-Series game against Sri Lanka on May 30, 2010 by not missing out 101. He fell out of form just before the 2011 World Cup in South Africa and was left out of India's squad for the tournament as a result.

Sharma was recalled to the limited overs squad for the West Indies tour in June and July 2011. In the first game at Queen's Park Oval, he hit 68 (not out) from 75 balls with three fours and a six. In the third game at Antigua's Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, he hit 86 balls from 91 after India were reduced to 92 for 6.

He had a catastrophic drop in form in 2012, hitting just 168 runs all calendar year at the very low 12.92 average with just a single half-century. Despite this, his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed confidence in him and his career was revived in 2013. Dhoni decided to move him up the batting order to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan at the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. The pairing was a success and India won the competition, beating hosts England in the final.

His good form continued and later in the year against Australia in Jaipur he scored 141 (not eliminated). He followed with 209 of 158 balls in Bangalore and set a then world record for most sixes (16) in a one-day international innings (since beaten by Eoin Morgan of England with 17).

Rohit Sharma 264 On November 13, 2014, Sharma broke the world record for highest score in a one-day international innings with 264 of 173 deliveries during the match against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

In December 2017, India captain Virat Kohli was rested for the series against Sri Lanka in preparation for India's tour to South Africa which began in the first week of January 2018. In his place, Sharma was appointed team captain and under his leadership India won the series 2-1, their eighth consecutive win since beating Zimbabwe in June 2016.

In 2018 he led Team India under his captainship to win the ICC Asia Cup Final against Bangladesh.

On 12 January 2019 Sharma scored 133 goals in the opening match against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground but it was in vain as India lost by 34 runs. It was his 22nd century in one-day internationals. On 13 March 2019 in Delhi, Sharma scored 56 goals, including his 8,000, in the fifth and final game of a home series against Australia. Run in one-day internationals. It was his 200th inning. In 2019, he hit the most runs in ODIs of any batsman at 1,490 runs a year.

In November 2020, Sharma was nominated for the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.

In July 2022, Sharma became the first Indian captain to lead his team to victories in both the T20I and ODI series in England. He became the third Indian captain to win an ODI series in England and the first since 2014.

T20 internationals

Sharma was included in India's squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and made his mark by scoring an unbeaten 50-of-40 delivery in the quarterfinals against hosts South Africa. This allowed India to win the game by 37 runs and they defeated Pakistan in the final when Sharma scored 30 (not out) from 16 deliveries.

On 2 October 2015, Sharma scored 106 points in the first Twenty20 international match at HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala during the South African tour of India. In doing so, he became the second Indian cricketer to score centuries in all three formats of international cricket. On 8 July 2018, Sharma scored 2,000 runs in an international Twenty20 career during a series in England after Virat Kohli as the second Indian batsman. He became the fifth batsman worldwide to accomplish the feat; the others besides Kohli were Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Shoaib Malik.
In 2018 he led Team India to win the Nidahas Trophy under his captaincy.

In November 2019, in the opening game of the series against Bangladesh, Sharma became the most capped cricketer for India in T20Is, playing in his 99th game. In the next game of the series he became the first male cricketer for India to play in 100 T20Is.

In November 2020, Sharma was nominated for the ICC Men's ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Decade Awards. In September 2021, Sharma was named to India's squad for the 2021 ICC T20 Men's World Championship.

In July 2022, Sharma became the first captain in T20I history to lead his team to 14 consecutive wins.

By taking part in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, Sharma became the only Indian cricketer to have played in every edition of the tournament since its inception in 2007.

On 27 October 2022, Sharma broke the record for most sixes by an Indian batsman in T20 World Cups, previously held by Yuvraj Singh, scoring his 34th six against Netherlands at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Indian Premier League

Rohit Sharma IPL Sharma joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 when he was signed by the Hyderabad-based franchise Deccan Chargers for US$750,000 per year. At the 2011 auction, he was sold to Mumbai Indians for $2 million. He scored his only IPL century with 109 (not out) against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2012 tournament. Under his leadership, Mumbai won the IPL in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020; In 2013 they also won the then Champions League Twenty20 competition.

Sharma has been one of the most successful players in the IPL since 2013 as captain of Mumbai Indians, who have won the tournament five times under his leadership. He is currently (March 2022) one of six players to have scored 5,000 runs in the competition in their career. Sharma has 5,611 runs with one century and 40 half-centuries and is the third highest run-scorer after Virat Kohli (6,283) and Shikhar Dhawan (5,784).

Play Style

Sharma is an aggressive batsman but plays with style and elegance. He is usually an opening batsman in limited-overs cricket, but has played most of his Test cricket as a middle-order batsman. In limited-overs cricket, Sharma is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding batsmen in the format. And because of his attack punch and six punch abilities, he is often referred to as Hitman.

Sunil Gavaskar feels that Sharma has a batting style similar to that of Virender Sehwag and Viv Richards. In his column for The Times of India in November 2018, Gavaskar said:

The standout performer in both the limited overs series and the T20 series was Rohit Sharma. Like Virender Sehwag before him, once he gets going, he is unstoppable and like Viru, he has an appetite for big hundreds. When Viru stepped out and tried to hit another ball out of the park, there was consternation on the ground, just as there is when Rohit delivers a seemingly casual shot. If Rohit can convert his white-ball heroics into red-ball cricket, he will be the most destructive batsman in the world after Viv Richards and Virender Sehwag.

Although Sharma is not a regular bowler, he can bowl right-arm off spin. He usually plays the slips and has said that this is a part of his game that he is working very hard to improve.

Successes

Sharma holds the world record for the highest individual score by a batsman in a one-day international, having scored 264 against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 13 November 2014. He is the only player to have scored three doubles points. Centuries in this form of international cricket. In January 2020, Sharma was named ODI Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC). During the 2019 World Cup, Sharma became the only batsman to score five centuries in a single edition of the Cricket World Cup.

On 5 October 2019, during a Test match against South Africa, Sharma became the first batsman to score two centuries in a match in his first appearance as an opening batsman. In the same series, he broke Shimron Hetmyer's record for the highest number of sixes in a Test series.

National Honors

Sharma receives Arjuna award

2015 – Arjuna Prize

2020 – Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna

Sporting Honors

ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year: 2019

ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year: 2014 (12th man), 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

ICC Men's ODI Team of the Decade: 2011–2020

ICC Men's T20I Team of the Decade: 2011–2020

ICC Men's Test Team of the Year: 2021

For his achievements on India's tour of England in 2021, Sharma was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in the 2022 edition.

Outside cricket
Personal life

Sharma married his long-time girlfriend Ritika Sajdeh on December 13, 2015. They have one child, a girl, born on December 30, 2018. He practices the Sahaj Marg meditation technique.

He follows the egget method of eating, but has eaten beef at least once since then.

Commercial Recommendations

Sharma has been sponsored by several brands including CEAT and Swiss watch manufacturer Hublot. Throughout his career, Sharma has endorsed many other brands including Maggi, Fair and Lovely, Lay's, Nissan, Energy Drink Relentless, Nasivion Nasal Spray, Aristocrat by VIP Industries, Adidas and Oppo Mobiles.

Philanthropy

Sharma is involved in numerous philanthropic activities and supports various causes such as animal welfare, health and children. He is particularly committed to protecting animals and has supported various initiatives and organizations to advance the cause.

In February 2015, Sharma joined People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to support the spaying of homeless cats and dogs. Supporting the cause, Sharma said, "Sterilization is important because I believe that if we can stop [the homeless crisis], there will be population control of the street dogs."

In September 2015, Sharma joined Hollywood actors Matt LeBlanc and Salma Hayek in an anti-poaching campaign in Kenya to save Africa's wild animals, including the last surviving northern white rhino. Joining the campaign, Sharma said: "I was a member of PETA and when I was briefed on the matter I felt it was my duty to join the anti-poaching campaign. That's what led me to Nairobi. I was fascinated by 'a look at Sudan (the last northern white rhinoceros) and the sniffer dogs grabbing the poachers'.

In November 2017, Sharma said in a video on social media that he had agreed with an online shop to market phone cases and other items that would use his name and ODI shirt number. 45. Sharma also told his Twitter followers, "All proceeds from your purchases will go to an animal welfare organization of my choice."

Sharma was named WWF India Rhino Ambassador on World Rhino Day 2018. Ravi Singh, CEO and Secretary General of WWF-India, said of working with Sharma, “We are encouraged that athletes like Rohit come forward to support the conservation call. Rohit's contribution to international cricket is well known and his support of the conservation of rhinos in India will help the cause of the species. We welcome Rohit to the WWF family.” After speaking up for rhino conservation, Sharma said: “My love for rhinos was ignited when I first heard about the Sudan, the last male North African rhino to live here year died, leading to the inevitable extinction of the entire species. It broke my heart. As the world and I mourned the loss of my fallen friend Sudan, I researched how best to help prevent this from happening and the best way I know is to raise awareness. After contacting WWF I learned that 82% of the world's rhino live in India and I am honored to be the WWF India Rhino Ambassador to raise awareness and do my bit for the Protecting and surviving rhinos and making this world a better place for them. "