The year was 2013 and the month November. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar was playing his final international bilateral which was a two-Test series against West Indies at home. Everything else in India had dwarfed in front of Tendulkar’s farewell. It was almost as if the other 10 players did not matter. A 24-year-long career was about to come to an end, and put fans on an emotional roller-coaster. Kolkata’s Eden Gardens and the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai were chosen as the final two venues of Tendulkar’s career. It was showtime.
However, not many noticed that if it was the end of the road for Tendulkar, the same series also marked the start of the Test career of another supremely talented India batter. In Kolkata, Rohit Sharma made his Test debut and hit an imperious 177, becoming the 14th Indian batter to score a hundred in his maiden Test. He followed it with another century – 111 not out in Mumbai which marked the beginning of what seemed like a wonderful Test career for Rohit, who by then was enjoying his second-coming in ODIs too.
Dinesh Karthik said that playing like that in the first two Test matches is a big thing and after this we thought that Rohit Sharma will be the answer to the question of Sachin’s absence in Indian Test cricket.
”But life and sports are not what you think. Rohit’s Test cricket journey has been bowled many curveballs,” said Dinesh Karthik on Rohit Sharma’s late rise in Test cricket.