Team India ODI captain Rohit Sharma spent time training with young talent Ayush Mhatre and batsman Sarfaraz Khan on Tuesday.
Hitman Rohit Sharma Practices with Sarfaraz Khan and Ayush Mhatre
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma spent time practicing with youngster Ayush Mhatre and Test batter Sarfaraz Khan on Tuesday. Both Ayush and Sarfaraz shared glimpses of the session on Instagram, where they expressed their excitement about training with the ‘Hitman’. Rohit even gifted a bat to Ayush, who thanked him in his story, writing, “Not just a gift, but an inspiration. Thanks @rohitsharma45 Da.” Meanwhile, Sarfaraz was seen closely watching and chatting with Rohit in the nets. Recently, India U19 toured England for a five-match ODI series and a two-match Test series. While India clinched the ODI series 3-2, the Test series ended in a draw.
Ayush Mhatre, who gained attention after a strong season with five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), captained India U19 in both formats against England. While his ODI performance was underwhelming with only 28 runs in five innings, he shone in the Test series. Mhatre finished as the leading run-scorer with 340 runs in four innings at an average of 85.00 and a strike rate above 103, including two centuries and a fifty.
In the opening Test, Mhatre scored 102 in the first innings and added 32 in the second. Both matches in the series ended as draws, with India finishing the second Test at 290/6 while chasing a target of 355.
During the second Test, Mhatre played a sensational knock of 126 runs off just 80 balls, hitting 13 fours and six sixes. He brought up his century in only 64 balls, making it the third-fastest hundred in U19 Test cricket, behind Moeen Ali (56 balls) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (58 balls).
For CSK this season, Mhatre was one of the rare positives in what turned out to be a disappointing, bottom-placed campaign. He scored 240 runs in seven matches at an average of 34.28 and an impressive strike rate of 188.97, with a top score of 94 and one half-century. His fearless, hard-hitting style brought freshness to an otherwise inconsistent and ageing batting line-up.
After years of hard work in domestic cricket, 27-year-old Sarfaraz Khan finally made his Test debut under Rohit Sharma earlier this year in the home series against England. Since then, he has scored 371 runs in six Tests at an average of 37.10 and a strike rate of 74.94, including one century and three fifties, with a highest score of 150. His most recent Test appearance came against New Zealand at the Wankhede in November last year.
Hitman Gears Up for ODI Comeback After Test Retirement
Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket in May, just before India’s ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025–27 tour of England. Between 2013 and 2025, he represented India in 67 Tests, scoring 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, including 12 centuries and 18 fifties. His best phase in red-ball cricket came as an opener between 2019 and 2024, when he emerged as India’s top run-scorer in the WTC, amassing 2,716 runs in 40 Tests at an average of 41.15, with nine hundreds and eight half-centuries.
Rohit Sharma, along with Virat Kohli, both retired from T20Is and Tests, will next feature in a three-match ODI series against Australia starting October 19.
Hitman Rohit Sharma is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. In ODI He has scored 11,168 runs in 273 matches (265 innings) at an average of 48.76 and a strike rate of 92.80. His record includes 32 centuries and 58 fifties, making him India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in ODIs.