Incredible Journey: Unreal Feeling To Have Stand At Wankhede Named After Me: Rohit Sharma

India Test and ODI captain and their batting icon Rohit Sharma is a bonafide legend of Indian cricket having traversed the heights of ecstacy and the depths of despair over the last 18 years.

As he grapples with the reality of advancing age in cricketing terms and the challenges it poses going into perhaps his last leg in international cricket, Rohit feels he has come a long, long way.

From being a boy in Borivali who became famous for breaking window panes and was extremely sought after by every building to play games for them to shattering records playing for India and eventually captaining India, Rohit’s has been quite an astonishing story.

The flamboyant batter who created a new world record for the highest individual ODI score in an innings against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in 2014 where he smashed the Lankan bowlers to shreds to ratchet up a massive 264 to skippering India to their third Champions Trophy title earlier this year, Rohit has ticked most boxes, if not all, that any cricketer can dream of.

The latest feather in that already crowded cap is the Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) decision to name the Divecha Pavilion Level 3 stand after him and the stand will be named Rohit Sharma Stand.

Recollecting and reminiscing the incredible journey, Rohit got a tad emotional while speaking at the launch of the third season of the T20 Mumbai League where he has been made the face of the league.

“Now to sit back and think that there is going to be a stadium in my game, it is such an unreal feeling. It is something that I have never thought of and I will be forever grateful for this big honour in my life,” he said.

“When you start playing the game, you don’t know how long you are going to play the game for; let alone all these milestones and achievements that you achieve while playing the game. But to get this kind of honour, having a stand named after you, is something I cannot imagine,” Rohit added.

The Indian batting great revealed there was a time when he would finish practice at Oval Maidan and then head to Wankhede and sometimes stand outside the iconic stadium to get an entry.

“But once I see my name on the stand, it will be a very emotional moment for me and like I said, from not having to enter the stadium and now to have a stand, those two moments, so much has happened between these two moments so I am forever grateful,” he added.

Life has certainly come a full circle for the ‘Mumbaicha Raja’.