Suniel Shetty says he has followed Rohit Sharma since the cricketer was 16

Suniel Shetty has never hidden how much he loves cricket. During his appearance on 'Family Full House with Rohit Sharma', the 'Hera Pheri' star talked about his lifelong passion for the game. He said he has kept an eye on Rohit Sharma since the batter was around 16 or 17. The show airs every Saturday and Sunday on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV.

Suniel said the whole world knows what a huge cricket buff he is. He joked that he has probably played more cricket in his imagination than others have played on the field. Back when matches were rarely shown on television, he would go to the Indo-American Society just to watch footage and clippings of pace bowlers.

He said his favourite cricketer has always been Sir Viv Richards, and that has not changed. He first heard about a young Rohit through Dr. PV Shetty, who often spoke about him, and Suniel would go along to watch the youngster play. Even then, he said, nobody reminded him of Richards the way Rohit did. He summed it up as the same swag: Caribbean swag in the former West Indies star, desi swag in Rohit.

Rohit had his own memory of their first meeting. He was 16 and playing for his company side, Indian Oil, at a ground in Bandra Kurla Complex. He was padded up and waiting to bat when he heard the actor was coming. He could not understand why a film star would turn up to a match like that.

Suniel came and sat with PV Shetty, Rohit's mentor, who helped him a great deal in his early years. Rohit said his mentor told him he should meet the actor because he loved the game so much. Watching quietly from the side, Rohit saw that Suniel's attention stayed fixed on the cricket and on how well each shot was played. Rohit also said the actor had played Under-19 cricket himself.