India batsman Rohit Sharma said that the credit for his transformation into one of the world’s leading one-day player went to MS Dhoni, who first pushed him to go and bat up the order.
“I believe the decision to open in ODIs changed my career and it was a decision taken by MS Dhoni,” said the 29-year-old.
“I became a better batsman after that. In fact, it helped me understand my game better, react better according to situations.”
Notably, the right-hander, first opened in early 2013 against England during the home series and followed that up with an impressive performance in the Champions Trophy.
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“He (Dhoni) just came up to me and said ‘I want you to open the innings as I am confident that you will do well. Since you can play both cut and pull shot well, you have the qualities to succeed as an opener’,” added the opener.
“He told me that I shouldn’t be scared of failures or get upset by criticism. He was looking at the bigger picture as the Champions Trophy was scheduled in England that year,” said Sharma, the only player in world cricket with two double hundreds in ODI’s.
