How did Rohit Sharma contribute to India's first T20 World Cup victory

NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma is the only Indian player to win two T20 World Cups. He first won the World Cup in 2007 under MS Dhoni's leadership and secured the second one in 2024 as the captain of the Indian team.
Initially one of the youngest players in the team, Rohit Sharma has now become the oldest captain to win a T20 World Cup for India. In addition to his leadership achievements, Rohit has also scored five centuries in T20Is, the most by any batter, and is the leading run-scorer in the format.
Rohit Sharma has achieved six IPL titles, one with Deccan Chargers and five as captain of Mumbai Indians, making him the joint-most successful captain in IPL history.
Rohit Sharma's T20 debut was during a notable match in the T20 World Cup 2007, where India faced England. In this match, Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad, setting a record for the fastest half-century in just 12 balls. Although Sharma did not bat in this game, he took a crucial catch of England's top scorer of the match, Vikram Solanki.
In the following match against South Africa, which was a virtual knock out, Rohit Sharma played his first T20I innings. He came to bat during the powerplay after India's top three batsmen, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, and Dinesh Karthik, were out early, leaving the team at 33/3.

Rohit Sharma first partnered with Robin Uthappa for a short while and then formed an 85-run partnership with the captain, MS Dhoni. Rohit Sharma remained not out and scored his maiden half-century in his debut T20I innings.
The next match was against Australia in the semi-finals. Although this match was dominated by Yuvraj Singh’s 70 runs off 30 balls, young Rohit Sharma only faced five balls, in which he scored a boundary, ending with eight runs.
Rohit Sharma next had his chance to bat in the final match of the T20 World Cup. Pakistan’s bowlers were restricting the Indian batters. Only Gautam Gambhir, the current head coach of the Indian team, held the innings together, while the other Indian batters crumbled. Even the Player of the Tournament, Yuvraj Singh, struggled and scored only 14 runs off 19 balls, while MS Dhoni, the skipper, scored 6 runs from 10 balls.
Rohit Sharma came in to bat when the score was 103 for 3, after Yuvraj Singh was dismissed. From there, Rohit took on the bowlers, batting at a strike rate of 187.50, scoring 30 runs off just 16 balls. His explosive batting helped the Indian team reach 157 runs in the final, which ultimately proved too much for Pakistan to chase.
The history of Indian cricket would be different if Rohit Sharma had not been part of the cricketing scene. Not only did Rohit provide support as a youngster in the 2007 T20 World Cup victory, but he also led the Indian team to win the 2024 T20 World Cup by teaching them to play fearless cricket.