'Forever grateful': Rohit Sharma thanks Dilip Vengsarkar for selecting him in Indian team for the first time originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- India's batting legend Rohit Sharma has thanked former selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar for picking him for the national team in 2007.
- Rohit Sharma said that without Dilip Vengsarkar, he might never have got the chance to play for India.
- Rohit Sharma also credited his Mumbai age-group coach Vasoo Paranjape for helping him earlier in his career.
How Dilip Vengsarkar's selection started Rohit Sharma's India career
Rohit Sharma's international career has now run for more than 19 years, and for much of this year the talk around him has been about when it will end. He has chosen to look back at the beginning instead and to name the people who helped him get there.
Rohit made his India debut in an ODI against Ireland in Belfast on June 23, 2007, in a rain-affected nine-wicket win. He was only 20 at the time, and Dilip Vengsarkar, the former India captain, was chairman of the selection committee that picked him.
The two people Rohit chose to thank belong to different stages of his rise. Vengsarkar gave him the chance at the national level, while Vasoo Paranjape, the veteran coach who died in 2021, had worked with him in Mumbai's age-group cricket before that.
MORE: ‘(Rohit Sharma) wants that cup’: How Ojha’s appointment is good news for Indian veteran batter
Rohit Sharma credits Dilip Vengsarkar for his first India selection
Rohit was asked on his show, Family Full House with Rohit Sharma on Sony TV, “Who spotted you for Team India?” He began by saying, “That's an excellent question. Actually, quite a few people played a role in it.” Vengsarkar was the first name he mentioned.
#RohitSharma credits former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the national selection committe chairman in 2007, and Vasoo Paranjape sir, for his selection into the Indian team in June 2007, on his show on Sony TV!! pic.twitter.com/XOOSAtEWPX
— Gaurav Gupta (@toi_gauravG) October 20, 2026
Rohit then explained how the selection came about, and he made clear who had backed him at the highest level. He said, “When I was selected for the Indian team, Dilip Vengsarkar was the chairman of the selection committee, and he gave me the opportunity.”
Rohit said the decision still means a great deal to him, since it opened a door that might otherwise have stayed shut. He said, “I will be grateful to him for the rest of my life because, without him, I might never have got the opportunity to play for India.”
MORE: ‘A completely different beast’: SKY reveals RoKo's influence on his fitness, leadership
Rohit Sharma also thanks Vasoo Paranjape
Rohit then went further back in his career. He said, “Before that, when I was playing age-group cricket, there was Vasu Sir.” He named Paranjape as the person who looked after him in the years before national selection, and those early years clearly stayed with him.
Rohit has described in the past how he first met Paranjape at an under-17 camp at the Wankhede Stadium, where thirty probables competed for fifteen places. Paranjape coached the Mumbai age-group side and spoke up for Rohit with the selectors and the captain.
Paranjape died on August 30, 2021, at the age of 82, after a long career in which he coached Mumbai and India's junior teams. Rohit has said that he kept asking for his feedback after innings, often through Paranjape's son Jatin, which shows how long the coach's influence lasted.
To keep up to date with all the latest cricket news and share your opinion on the biggest topics, visit our Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) pages.