Rohit Sharma just floored Madhya Pradesh on the first day of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2026-27, claiming five wickets at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in, Srinagar. The fast bowler dismissed Harsh Gawli, Himanshu Mantri, captain Shubham Sharma and debutants Chanchal Rathod and Atharva Mahajan to finish with figures of 21.2-8-36-5 as Jammu and Kashmir dominated on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma, ? Something looks mysterious, right Well, This Rohit isn’t the former Indian captain from Mumbai. Instead, the 32-year-old represents Jammu and Kashmir in domestic cricket. Riding on Rohit’s five-wicket haul and a four-wicket haul from Sunil Kumar, defending champions Jammu and Kashmir skittled Madhya Pradesh out for 191.
At the time of writing, Jammu and Kashmir are in a terrible situation in reply, losing seven wickets without even 100 runs on the board. In response to Madhya Pradesh’s total, the Jammu and Kashmir batters completely faltered, especially in front of (3/20) and Akshay Sharma (2/16). Ravi Kiran and Aryan Pandey also took a wicket apiece.
Born in Jammu in 1994, Rohit started cricket a very young age and grew through the ranks of U-19 and U-23 state teams before making his First-Class debut for Jammu and Kashmir in the 2015–16 . He followed it up with his List A debut in 2015 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy
His T20 debut for Jammu and Kashmir came in 2016 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. However, having made hid domestic debut a decade back, Rohit’s career didn’t flourish as he would have hopes for.
Before the match against Madhya Pradesh, Rohit played just 22 First-Class matches in 11 years, taking 39 wickets. In List A and T20s, Rohit represented his state in eight and five matches respectively. In fact, Rohit made a return to the Jammu and Kashmir side in the 2026 Irani Trophy, after missing the previous two seasons.
For Rohit, the five-wicket haul is a new chapter in his career, which has been hampered by injuries. He had suffered an Achilles tendon rupture and a fracture to his heel bone. On his return, he re-injured the same area, two years back, which was followed by another lengthy rehabilitation.
The Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) deserves credit for Rohit’s return. During his time away from the game, the state association, kept Rohit along with the team during rehabilitation and allowed him to stay connected with his teammates and the game.
Notably, Rohit still has screws in his landing foot, and a fractured bone near his ankle fixed surgically, as reported by Sportstar.
Rohit first interaction with came in 2015 when Jammu and Kashmir played against Jharkhand in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match in 2015 in Alur. Following the game, then-Jammu and Kashmir captain and current BCCI president requested Dhoni to interact the the boys.
Dhoni, a then Indian captain, obliged and visited the Jammu and Kashmir dressing room to interact with the players. “He spoke about how handle pressure situations, how to control your nerves. He focussed on process because once you reach a level in senior cricket, its all abut execution,” Rohit spoke in a Desi Vibe with Tarun Podcast.
