‘Not a lot of cricketers have done that’: Rohit Sharma addresses fitness question as India captain nears 500 matches

Speaking to Jitendra Chouksey for his podcast, Sharma pointed out the amount of time he’s been a consistent player for India. “To play for 17 years and to play nearly…. I am close to 500 games now for India internationally,” said the opener. “Five hundred games, not a lot of cricketers globally have played.”

Interviewer : What do you think about fitness in cricket?

Rohit Sharma : ‘ I’ve played cricket for 17-18 years and 500 intl games; not many have done that. There’s something to the longevity and routine I follow.’

Bro on a mission 😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/x9q24QAI6L

— Jod Insane (@jod_insane) September 28, 2024

Only ten cricketers have played over 500 matches across formats, with Sharma set to become the eleventh player to join this club, currently playing his 485th match in the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh. He would also become the fifth Indian player in the club, joining Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rahul Dravid.

Sharma also spoke about the aspects that are important towards reaching that sort of landmark. “To have that longevity, there has to be something about your routine. How you manage your fitness, how you manage your mind and how you train yourself. And how do you get ready for the game, most importantly,” said the Indian captain.

‘Our job is to win games…’

Sharma will likely reach the 500-match mark early in 2025, with Test matches against New Zealand and Australia as well as T20s against South Africa pushing him closer to the mark.. He has become a consistent fixture across formats, having debuted in 2007 and eventually working his way into being one of India’s finest openers across formats.

“At the end of the day, our job is to be 100 percent ready for the game and perform to win games. And then, if you go backwards then, in that preparation comes fitness,” said Rohit, expanding on what the process is to remain in the zone, physically and mentally, for match after match.

Sharma is currently involved with the Indian team in the Test series against Bangladesh, where the Kanpur Test has struggled to get going with the presence of rain on all three days of the match so far.