Former India spinner who shared the dressing room with current captain Rohit Sharma with the Indian team as well as Deccan Chargers revealed Rohit's advice uring their U19 days. Ojha stated Rohit insisted that one had to be a “match-winner” to succeed in the Indian team. Rohit Sharma was recently featured in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Where he was seen dominating bowlers with his unique style of batting. India lost that series by 2-0 but the Indian skipper emerged as the highest run-getter with 157 runs. Sri Lanka created history by defeating India in a bilateral series after 27 years
Ojha played 24 Tests, 18 ODIs and six T20Is for India, where he picked 113 wickets including seven five-wicket hauls. He last featured in 2013 during India's two-Test series against West Indies in Mumbai, which was also batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's last Test.
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“The best advice I received was from Rohit Sharma when we were playing U19 cricket. He said, ‘Everyone wants to play for the country because we have come at the U19 level. But if you want to play for India for a long time, then you need to be a match-winner,” Ojha said.
Team India are currently on rest they will next feature in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh which will take place next month. India veteran speedster Mohammed Shami who is out of action since the ODI World Cup 2023 final will also most likely to make a comeback in the same series. This Test series will be important for India for the World Test Championship cycle and for the preparation of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024 which will take place in Australia later this year.
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