India opener Rohit Sharma impressed everyone with his swashbuckling knock of 176 against South Africa in Visakhapatnam and even former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar couldn't stop himself from lauding the right-handers' effort.
Posting a video on his official YouTube handle, Akhtar said he had acknowledged Rohit's true potential in 2013.
"I had asked Rohit to add a G, for Great before his name (Great Rohit Sharma) and play in the manner going in with the mindset that he is the best batsman in India," Akhtar said in the video.
He further said that Rohit is also turning out to be a modern-day great like Virat Kohli and Steven Smith. The former Pakistan pacer also said that in future when India face-off against England in a five-match Test series, Rohit could amass 1000 runs in the rubber and will surpass Smith's run tally of 774 runs in the recently concluded Ashes series.
Advertisement
Rohit turned a new leaf on Wednesday as he not only scored a century in his first innings as a Test opener to put India in the driver's seat at the end of the opening day of the first Test, but also equalled Don Bradman's record of having a batting average of 98.22 at home.
While Bradman had an average of 98.22 after 50 innings at home with 4322 runs in his kitty, Rohit has 884 runs after 15 innings with the same average.
The 'Hitman' also equalled former India skipper and batting great Rahul Dravid's record of six consecutive fifties on home soil in Tests.
Advertisement
Smith, who scored runs at will during the recent Ashes series in England, is currently the top-ranked Test batsman and is often hailed as the best in the business in the traditional format of the game.
(With IANS inputs)
