Mumbai, Oct 25: He made his ODI debut in the year 2007 but it took Rohit Sharma almost 8 years to play his first limited overs match in his own backyard, at Wankhede Stadium.

Rohit Sharma, the local Mumbai boy, is playing his first match, between India and South Africa.

Rohit has played 6 ODI games at Pakistan's Karachi but this is the first ocassion when he's playing in front of his home crowd.

The right-handed batter, however, made his Test debut on this venue and went on to score a century in the first game. (T20I centurion Rohit Sharma joins Suresh Raina in India's elite list)

Rohit, captain of IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, has played a lot of T20 games on this ground.

Rohit is playing his 142 ODI game on Sunday (Oct 25).

Earlier in an interview with the TOI, Rohit's fiancee Ritika Sajdeh spoke about the talented India cricketer's personality off the field and how she handles all the criticism he is often subjected to.

"Ro's a good man in a storm. He's the kind of man who would stand by you no matter what and that's something I've always admired about him. He's hilarious! He makes me laugh without even trying," she was quoted as saying.

OneIndia News