‘Yeh Lambi race ka ghoda hai’ – Noted journalist recalls Rohit Sharma’s gritty knock which earned him recognition

Noted Indian journalist Vijay Lokapally was a guest on the 2 Sloggers podcast where he spoke about the early origins of Rohit Sharma. During the course of the podcast, the hosts asked Vijay Lokapally to recall any one unknown incident of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. 

Vijay Lokapally was quick to reply “Uski badi-badi innings dekhi hogi aapne, lekin maine ek aise innings dekhi, hai jahan se shuru kia usne aur uski koi record nahi hai”. (You might have seen his big innings but I have seen a innings which isn’t spoken about too much) When asked to name the knock Vijay Lokapally was quick to point a Deodhar Trophy match between North and West Zone. 

Rohit Sharma had scored an unbeaten century in the game which not only earned him recognition but also praise. Former India star player Dinesh Mongia had come up to Vijay Lokapally at the end of the match and praised Rohit Sharma’s knock. 

Dinesh Mongia terms Rohit Sharma ‘Lambi race ka ghoda’ 

Speaking on the 2 Sloggers podcast, Vijay Lokapally went onto say “North versus West, Deodhar Trophy final tha, Udaipur main match tha aur usne so 100 kia, outstanding hundred, outstanding aur wahi usi innings se toh aagey aaya woh” (There was a Deodhar Trophy match between North and West played in Udaipur and Rohit Sharma scored a century which was an outstanding knock)

“Dikh gaya tha iske pass kitna time hai ek ball khelne ke liye. Aur mujhe yaad hai press conference hota tha, aur hum teen journalist the sirf, main tha, Sandeep Dwivedi Indian Express aur Sekhar Luthra, Hindustan Times ke” (We could identify the talent he had and the time he had to play the ball during the innings )added Vijay Lokapally. 

This is when Dinesh Mongia came running to the trio and lavished praise on Rohit Sharma and said “North Zone captain the Dinesh Mongia, hum jaane lage toh wapas aaya Daudke aur kehta hai Vijay bhai ek line daal dena meri taraf se aur jod dena toh maine kaha haan bolo, bass yeh likh dena ‘Yeh lambi race ka ghoda hai’ so usne pehchan lia ki yeh player alag hai,” (North Zone skipper Dinesh Mongia came running to us at the end of the press conference and lavished praise on Rohit Sharma and said ‘just added these lines he is a player to watch out for)

Rohit Sharma was just 18 years old when West Zone played North Zone in the finals. Batting first North Zone scored 278/9 with Gautam Gambhir scoring 109 and Shikhar Dhawan scoring 65. Needing 279 to win Parthiv Patel the West Zone skipper was out early for 9 while Dheeraj Jadhav fell after scoring 37. 

Rohit Sharma was joined by Jacob Martin as the pair added unbeaten 194 runs for the 3rd wicket in 169 balls. Batting at number 3, Rohit Sharma scored 142 not out from 123 balls with 14 fours and 3 sixes. Jacob Martin scored 78 not out to help West Zone clinch the title.