A young Rohit Sharma reminded me of Inzamam-ul-Haq, recalls Yuvraj Singh

Having already made a name for himself at the U19 level, there was quite the hype when Rohit Sharma made his international debut for India at the age of 20. Rohit was part of India’s successful 2007 WT20 campaign and although the right-hander did not fulfill his potential until being elevated to the opening slot, the Mumbaikar, right from his very first match, showed glimpses of what he was capable of.

Yuvraj Singh, who by the time Rohit made his debut was already an established middle-order batsman in the team, recalled how a young Rohit reminded him of Inzamam-Ul-Haq, due to the sheer time he had in his hands. The duo starred in India’s victorious WT20 campaign in 2007 and incidentally, Rohit made his T20I debut in the game where Yuvraj ended up hitting six sixes in a single over. 

“I think when he came into the Indian team, he looked like somebody who had a lot of time. He reminded me of Inzamam-ul-Haq, because, when he batted, Inzi had a lot of time (to play the bowlers),” Yuvraj Singh told Gaurav Kapoor in a video on YouTube.

The veteran all-rounder, who won the Man of the Tournament award in the 2011 World Cup, further went on to admit that Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan was the toughest bowler he faced his career, but added that he was able to negate the off-spinner better after adding the sweep shot to his armoury. Yuvraj’s struggles against Muralitharan was one of the primary reasons MS Dhoni elevated himself to No.5 in the 2011 World Cup Final, a move that turned out to be a masterstroke.

"Probably (Murali was the toughest bowler I faced). When I started my career. Probably the spinner I must have struggled against the most. But since I started sweeping, I got better. Initially, yes, I would say."