Rohit Sharma likes to warm up with soccer before a match, calls MSD, Kohli good footballers

Gentlemen need their beauty sleep.

It is noon, and Rohit Sharma is fashionably late to a recent media briefing at a South Mumbai hotel. A passel of journalists crowding the entrance to the hall give way, and Sharma emerges, a navy blue cap cocked crookedly on his head. The crown of the cap has his initials embossed on it, and the visor casts a shadow over his face. A firing squad of cameras is trained at the stage, their f lashes illuminating the lemony walls. Sharma faces the audience with the air of a rehearsed performer, but a yawn escapes. There are dark circles under his eyes. He has had a long night.

Shot in the arm
On the previous evening, Sharma hit five sixes and half-a-dozen boundaries against a strong West Indian side under the arc lights at the Wankhede, becoming the fastest player in history to smash 400 sixes in international cricket. But the morning after his heroics, the right-handed batsman is craving a kickabout. “My first love was always cricket, followed by football. In fact, when on tour, we begin the day with a game of football,” he says after being announced as the Indian face of a foreign league.


Fans of the Indian cricket team will be inured to seeing photos of their idols playing football in training fatigues, but these matches are usually less than friendly. “Before a cricket match, football is the preferred warm-up. Firstly, it brings everyone together. And secondly, the competitiveness gets that energy flowing in the team,” says Sharma, a lifelong Real Madrid fan, who grew up idolising Zinedine Zidane.

India sits atop the totem pole in ICC’s Test rankings, and the team’s run of good results in white flannels may, in part, be due to its pre-match ritual. “When you are playing Test cricket, the game starts at 9.30 am. We are on the field by 7.30 am. A lot of the guys are half asleep, and the rest of them are stiff. We play football in the morning so that they open their eyes and start running from one place to another,” Sharma says.

Sir Vivian Richards is the only person to have played in both cricket and football World Cups. He represented Antigua and Barbuda in the qualifiers for the 1974 World Cup. Antigua finished bottom of their group with a goal difference of -19 after losing 1-11 to Trinidad and Tobago, and 0-6 to Suriname.

Goal line
Sharma reckons there are a few good players in the Indian cricket team who could give the West Indian legend a run for his money.

“There are a lot of good footballers in the team — MS (Dhoni), Virat, and younger guys like KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. We have Zlatan Ibrahimovic in our squad as well (laughs). That is Ishant Sharma, but unfortunately he doesn’t have good football skills,” Sharma jokes, comparing his teammate to the Swedish footballer, both of whom are gaunt-faced, lanky, and have a full mane of hair.

Sharma has become a fixture at the top of the batting order, but on the football pitch, he prefers roaming near the centre circle. “The teams and positions people play in are determined by the two captains. I have played all over the pitch and think that midfield is the most challenging position. “The strikers only stand near the goalposts because there is no offside rule. So they don’t go forwards or backwards. Midfielders are the most creative players and I play there because I have a lot of skills,” he says.

Sharma, 32, is no longer the greenhorn who grew up mauling bowlers in the maid-ans of Mumbai. The boy from Borivali opens the innings for India, and captains the Mumbai team in the IPL. The demands on Sharma’s time have increased, but footie remains his favourite pastime. “If my schedule permits, I hope to watch Real Madrid play Barcelona at the Bernabeau in March,” he says.