There is something about 16 that has a lingering sweet aftertaste. Ask Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who completed 16 summers as an international cricketer after starting as a highly-rated 20-year-old from Mumbai's famous stable of batters.
On June 23, 2007, Rohit made his debut under current head coach Rahul Dravid's captaincy in an ODI game in Ireland, a match India won quite easily as one got a glimpse of the youngster clad in full-sleeved jumpers amidst biting cold in Belfast. See Rohit Sharma's throwback picture: Following 441 international games, 17,115 runs and 43 international hundreds, the 36-year-old 'Hit-Man' now stands on the most important cusp of his illustrious career: To end the 10-year jinx for an ICC trophy.
An antithesis to Mumbai's much talked about 'Khadoos' school of batsmanship, Rohit's graceful strokeplay is what makes him stand-out among his peers.
But as he leads the team to West Indies, one can recollect how Rohit had described his feelings when Dravid, the then captain informed him about his debut. "It was way back in 2007 when I was selected, but the first time I had the opportunity to interact with him (Dravid) was in Bangalore at a camp," Rohit had told mediapersons during an interaction just after Dravid took over as coach. "It was a very brief chat and I was actually kind of very nervous and I never used to talk so much even with my age group of people, so leave alone these guys at that point. "So I was just quietly doing my things and getting a move on with my game.