Before Mumbai Indians, it was Deccan Charges who find a potential leadership quality in Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma IPL: From an emerging IPL player to a World Cup-winning team India captain, Rohit Sharma has made a long journey so far. Cricket fans are now well aware of Sharma's achievement with the Mumbai Indians, but the new cricket fans may not know about his time with the now-defunct IPL club Deccan Chargers.

It was Deccan Chargers, the then Hyderabad-based club, who saw leadership material in a young Rohit Sharma. Rohit started his IPL career with DC as the deputy of Australian legend Adam Gilchrist. Then, Rohit was a 20-year-old cricket aspirant. In 2008, the first IPL season for Rohit Sharma witnessed a stellar performance by a young all-rounder. Yes, back in 2008, Rohit was playing as an all-rounder who could bat and bowl. In that season Sharma scored 404 runs for Deccan Chargers at an average of 36.72. In the next season, 2009, Rohit took 11 wickets as a spinner and scored 362 runs as a batter.

Scott Styris, the former New Zealand international and Deccan Chargers, later said about Rohit, "It (IPL 2008) was my first opportunity to be a teammate and see (and hear of ) Rohit Sharma. He was with us at the Deccan Chargers. He was 19 or 20 years old at that time, and I could see then that this kid was something special. I’ve just come back from Sri Lanka, where I commentated on India vs. Sri Lanka; I caught up with him there, and he’s still the same guy that he was 16 years ago."

Rohit Sharma joined Mumbai Indians in 2011; from then, he has been an integral part of the team, and with them, Sharma won 5 IPL titles as captain.