Rohit Sharma's Leadership Ability Is "Often Overlooked": Australia Great's Massive Praise For India Captain

29.02.2024 - 11:19 sports.ndtv.com

Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indian cricket team sealed the five-match Test series against England in Ranchi. The hosts won the game by five wickets to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with a match to go.

India lost the first game to England before making a brilliant comeback and winning hat-trick of matches. While many youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan have so far starred in the series, former Australia captain Ian Chappel made sure that the leadership skills of Rohit is also among the most talked topics.

Chappel feels that Rohit's ability as a leader is "often overlooked". "In the sudden shuffling of the Indian side after a prolonged period of selection stability, the leadership of Rohit Sharma is often overlooked.

Rohit, in his quiet but efficient way, is a very different leader from the aggressive and highly visible Ben Stokes. His capable handling of the many changes to personnel and the tough loss of the first Test shows his resilience.

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Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Monday said his predecessor Rohit Sharma will continue to be a guiding force for him during the IPL despite the unexpected change of leadership that the franchise announced ahead of the upcoming season, triggering a "backlash" from the fans. Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans in the past two seasons, is back at Mumbai Indians as captain for the 2024 edition. Having led Mumbai Indians to five titles, Rohit was surprisingly replaced by Pandya going into the upcoming season.

"Sanju Samson Is Just Like Rohit Sharma": India Star's Bold Verdict On Leadership Comparison

Back with his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, India wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel is hoping to replicate his form at Rajasthan Royals after a commendable series with the Test team against England. Having done exceptionally well under Rohit Sharma's leadership, Jurel is now eager to prove his worth to Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson. Ahead of the start of the new season, Jurel spoke highly of Samson's captaincy and even drew parallels between the RR skipper and Rohit Sharma.

"We Messed Up": Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid Accused Of 'Doctoring' ODI World Cup Final Pitch

Unbeaten in the tournament until the final, India suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Australia in the summit clash for the ODI World Cup 2023. With India's loss, ended the dream of millions of people to see the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and others lifting the coveted trophy. While there were several factors behind the team's loss, one of the biggest ones that has been discussed since the catastrophic result is the nature of the pitch. Many feel that the curator did a little too much to swing the game in India's favour. Now, former India batter Mohammad Kaif has admitted that the hosts did try to doctor the match, and unfortunately, went overboard.

Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma Unsure, Ajit Agarkar Pushed For Young Star's Test Debut: Report

India's 5-match Test series against England gave the team management the opportunity to try some of the next-generation stars. The likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Akash Deep, and Dhruv Jurel, all made their debuts in the series, and produced performances worthy of cementing their places in the squad, to say the least. But, it has now been learned that some of these debuts didn't come from the head coach Rahul Dravid, or skipper Rohit Sharma. Instead, it was the chief selector Ajit Agarkar who pushed the team management into selecting some of these players.

"Big Controversy": South Africa Great On Hardik Pandya Replacing Rohit Sharma As Mumbai Indians Captain

In the upcoming Indian Premier League season, it is Hardik Pandya who will be leading five-time champions Mumbai Indians. In December last year, MI traded Hardik in an all-cash deal from Gujarat Titans and later named him the skipper. Rohit, who led MI to five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, will be there in the team but no more the captain. Speaking on the surprise change made by Mumbai, South Africa great AB de Villiers said that it created "big controversy".

"Don't Confuse Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Captaincy": England Great's Intriguing 'Laidback' Verdict

Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain on Tuesday said that sometimes people confuse the India skipper Rohit Sharma as a "laidback" player. The 36-year-old had a stupendous series against England, he scored 400 runs after playing all five matches at a strike rate of 64.21. The India skipper also slammed 2 centuries against the travelling side. While speaking to Sky Sports, Nasser said that Rohit has a lot of "skill, and brilliance" with his batting. Talking about the recently concluded five-match Test series between India and England, the 55-year-old said that Rohit had a great series as a skipper.