Cricketers Mentored by MS Dhoni |

9. Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma first shot into the limelight during the inaugural World T20 in South Africa in 2007. He played a key role in the middle order towards the back half of the tournament. However, he had made his ODI debut a few months before this tournament. But it was frustrating to watch him fail to make it big. The Mumbaikar showed a lot of promise but flattered to deceive.

There were flashes of brilliance but consistency eluded him. However, one switch has made him one of the best openers in white-ball cricket. Over the last few years, he’s been fabulous at the top of the order. Be it ODIs or T20Is, his ability to bat big and rack up tall scores is remarkable. No player has more ODI double tons (3) or even more T20I hundreds (4) than Rohit.

It was the switch to make him open the batting. Before 2013, the Mumbai-born batsman played 86 ODIs and averaged 28.57. He opened against England in the ODIs at home in early 2013 but no one expected him to do the same in the Champions Trophy. That changed his career and he hasn’t looked back since. “I believe the decision to open in ODIs changed my career and it was a decision taken by MS Dhoni. I became a better batsman after that,” Rohit Sharma was quoted saying in January 2017.