For every cricket lover and devoted Hitmanian, following Rohit Sharma’s journey has been an emotional ride. From winning the IPL trophy 5 times to losing the ODI World Cup in 2023, and finally being crowned T20 World Champion in 2024, Rohit Sharma’s career embodies a classic redemption arc. The Rise of the Hitman captures this journey with remarkable detail. It traces his ascent from his humble early days living with his uncle in Borivali to becoming the Hitman we all know and revere.
The book opens by taking readers back to Rohit’s formative years, when a 12-year-old boy at the Borivali Sports and Cultural Association caught the attention of Dinesh Lad, the coach who would remain a constant presence throughout his rise. From there, the narrative carefully chronicles his gradual progression through the ranks—from Swami Vivekananda International School to Mumbai Under-17, Mumbai Under-19, India Under-19, India A, and finally his international debut in 2007. R Kaushik captures not only Rohit Sharma’s awe-inspiring statistics but also insights from the minds of the Selection Committee and Indian Team players of that time.
The book then chronicles Sharma’s quick IPL start, the dynasty that he built as Mumbai Indians’ captain and his journey to being, arguably, one of the most successful openers in Indian batting history. Yet, the book does not shy away from exploring his disappointments from being dropped from the team in the historic 2011 World Cup to the failed tryst with destiny on November 19. Discussing Rohit’s setbacks, he gives first-hand narrations from cricketing legends VV Laxman, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and contemporaries Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh and Abhishek Nayar, which give the reader behind-the-scenes moments never told before.
The book is also one of the first to highlight his temperament and captaincy style in detail. It brings out both his meticulous preparation: spending hours in video analysis and attending team meetings with the bowling and batting units even when he wasn’t mandatorily needed, and his people-first management that balances his blunt honesty with backing for his players. If Dhoni is ‘Captain Cool’, the book characterizes Rohit as ‘Captain Initiative’: willing to shoulder the blame on tactical decisions and decisive on team selection.
The book is an almost complete story of Captain Rohit Sharma’s life, covering the lesser-known facts of him starting as an off-spinner, his deliberate shift to becoming an opener, and his speak-his-mind personality that has been caught on many stump mics. Its only gaps are a fuller account of his post-World Cup 2024 recovery and Rohit’s relationship with newly appointed coach Gautam Gambhir (specifically the batting order changes in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy).
All told, R Kaushik completes a long-neglected task: presenting Rohit Sharma not just as a run machine but as a reflective leader whose two years brought India titles that a billion people will remember for decades to come. If you want to know the man and not just the batting behemoth, this book is for you.
Aditya Karnik is an incoming Freshman, pursuing economics and public policy, at Duke University, USA. He is an avid cricket fan and in his free time, can be found praying for the Indian cricket team’s success. Sharing a birthday with Rohit Sharma, he feels he’s somewhat closer to him than the rest of the 1.3 billion fans.