How Rohit Sharma turned a corner

In January, he was an India discard who was desperate to take a grip of a career that seemed to be rapidly slipping through his fingers. On his flight back to India at the end of the ODI series against South Africa in January this year, where he had a highest of 23 from five games, Rohit asked himself an important question: Did he like the way he looked? The answer was easy—all he needed to do was to look at the mirror and play his old tapes. He was to return home and tell his friends that the next time he would be on television, the world would see a different him.

February and March become the months when [Abhishek] Nayar and the Mumbai team fitness trainer Amogh Pandit moved to Rohit’s 10th floor three-bedroom apartment at Bandra. Morning paranthas were replaced with protein seeds, cornflakes, oats and 8 pm became the new dinner deadline.