Rohit Sharma inspires India's U19 players in special session at BCCI Centre of Excellence

NEW DELHI: Indian ODI skipper Rohit Sharma took time out of his preparations for the upcoming Australia series to inspire the next generation of cricketers. On Saturday, he visited the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru and interacted with the country’s Under-19 players, sharing insights from his decorated career.

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The BCCI posted on X, “Inspiring the next gen! Rohit Sharma shared valuable experiences and life lessons with U19 boys at BCCI CoE @ImRo45.”


The session was aimed at giving budding cricketers exposure to the mindset and discipline required to succeed at the highest level.

Earlier, Rohit was also seen bonding with youngsters Ayush Mhatre and Test batter Sarfaraz Khan during net practice. In a heartwarming gesture, Rohit gifted a bat to Mhatre, who later wrote on Instagram, “Not just a gift, but an inspiration. Thanks @rohitsharma45 Da.”

Sarfaraz too shared snippets of his chats and observations while training alongside the ODI captain.

The Indian U19 team recently completed a home assignment against England, winning the five-match ODI series 3-2 while drawing the two-match Test series. For them, Rohit’s presence at the CoE served as both motivation and a learning curve.

Rohit himself is in the midst of preparing for India’s upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia starting October 19. Having retired from Test cricket earlier this year, and T20Is along with Virat Kohli, the 37-year-old is now focused solely on the 50-over format.

With 11,168 ODI runs, including 32 centuries, Rohit is widely regarded as one of the format’s greatest ever.

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