"He Is Rohit Sharma Because Of…": Gautam Gambhir Drops Epic 'MS Dhoni Statement'

On Tuesday, Rohit Sharma, the current captain of India, scored his 10,000th run in ODI cricket. The 36-year-old did it against Sri Lanka in Colombo during an Asia Cup Super 4 match. Rohit has come a long way since he made his debut in 2007.

He used to bat in the middle of the order, but now he is the fastest opener to reach 8,000 ODI runs. Rohit had a hard time getting the hang of things when he first joined the Indian team. It wasn't until the legendary India leader MS Dhoni turned him into an opener that he got it.

Gautam Gambhir, a former batsman for India, talked about how important Dhoni was to Rohit's career as he looked back on the important choice that Dhoni made when he moved the Hitman up the order.

"He worked hard to score 10,000 runs. Saw a lot of highs and lows. Rohit, as leader, will help young people who are going through hard times because he has been there himself. "MS Dhoni is the reason Rohit Sharma is who he is today," Gambhir said on Star Sports.

Gambhir thinks that Rohit will have to support the next generation of players in the same way that Dhoni did if he wants to leave a good legacy.

"MS was always there for him when he was first trying. If he wants to be remembered, not for how many runs he scored, but as a good captain, a lot will rest on how he helps the younger players. It will be interesting to see how he trains the players of the future," he said.

Gambhir also talked about what he thought of Rohit when he first met him and how sure he was that the star batter would do great things in the years to come.

"Rohit was on the team that was playing against my team in a domestic match. My team's score was 350, and Rohit came in at No. 5 and got 130 runs, which helped his team win a tough game. I asked Wasim Jaffer who this person was, and from that day on, I knew this person was unique," he said.

Notably, Rohit is the sixth Indian player after Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Dhoni to score 10,000 or more runs in ODI cricket.