There’s no age to start any sport: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma, the vice-captain of Team India’s limited-over teams, reckons that age isn’t a barrier when it’s about starting to play a sport. The top-order batter put forth Michael Hussey’s journey for the Australian team to back his comments. The southpaw made his debut in 2004 when he was around 29 years old, but it was after he passed 30 that he started getting recognition.

Hussey plied his trade in Aussie colours for seven years and earned the name of ‘Mr Cricket’ owing to his stupendous level of consistency. The Perth-born amassed in excess of 12,000 runs at the international level to go with 22 tons and 72 half-centuries. The 32-year-old Rohit reckons that one should take a leaf out of Hussey’s books and take an optimistic approach towards life.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a big example: Rohit

“There is a very Australian cricketer Michael Hussey, he made is Australian (Test) debut when he was 30. He played for 6-7 years and he is called Mr. Cricket. This is good learning for all of us, there is no age to start any sport,” Rohit was quoted as saying in India Today.

Rohit also cited the example of popular footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who lost his father at the age of 20 and was raised alone with his mother. “Ronaldo is a big example. He lost his father at an early age. He was brought up by his mother alone, it was not an easy household to be a part of. But look where he is now. You can’t stop believing,” Sharma added.

The Nagpur-born Rohit was set to be a part of the Indian squad for the Test series in New Zealand. However, a calf injury ruled him out of the series. He developed the injury during the T20I series against the Black Caps and then went on to miss the three-match ODI series as well.

He is also likely to miss the ODI series versus South Africa and is expected to make a comeback for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rohit has played alongside Michael Hussey for the four-time IPL champions.