India’s newly appointed white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma was effusive in praise for predecessor Virat Kohli, saying that the “grit and determination” to win every game for the country is what made him stand out. Rohit, who was Kohli’s deputy until his recent elevation to the ODI captaincy post, said he loved “each and every moment” playing under him.
“Five years that he led the team, he led from the front every time, we stepped on to the park, and there was clear grit and determination to win every game, that was the message to the entire squad,”
Rohit said in an interview with BCCI.tv.
“We have had a great time playing under him and I have played a lot of cricket under him, I have enjoyed each and every moment, still continue to do that.”
Kohli led India to the final of the 2017 Championship Trophy and the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup in the United Kingdom. Under him, India played a total of 95 ODIs, winning 68 and losing 27.
Virat led from the front in these games, scoring 5,499 runs at 72.65 per innings and a strike-rate of 98.28. Kohli’s tally includes 21 centuries and 27 half-centuries.
While himself a modern-day ODI great with three double centuries and a magnificent overall record, Rohit the skipper will know he has big shoes to fill. One of the biggest expectations from the fans under his tenure is for India to finally break their longstanding ICC trophy jinx. The Indian men’s team have not won a major world trophy since winning the 2013 Champions Trophy in the UK under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.
Rohit reiterated it’s not that India have played bad cricket in this period in world tournaments, just that they’ve not managed to go the extra mile at the business end of these competitions. The Indian team dominated the league stage of the 2019 World Cup but suffered a painful loss in the semi-final to New Zealand, for example.
“There are lot of things that we need to do right before we think of end result. The last ICC trophy (Champions Trophy), we won was in 2013. But I don’t see anything wrong that we did after that Champions Trophy. We played well and performed as a team but just that we couldn’t get that extra inch.”
“That can happen as international cricket is very demanding but that’s the challenge as we are all professionals. Lot of World Cups are coming and India will be eyeing to do well in lot of them. Our focus is on winning championship but there is a process that we need to follow as a group.”
Rohit said.
Rohit will have the chance to bag two major silverware in the first two years of his full-time white-ball captaincy, with the T20 World Cup scheduled next year in Australia and an ODI World Cup to be held in India the following year.
During his interview, Rohit emphasized the need for his team to improve at handling difficult situations under the pressure of a knock-out game. He said it’s important for India to prepare and be good at recovering from “10 for 2” in a high-pressure game.
The 34-year-old Rohit has previously been India’s stand-in captain in 22 T20Is and 10 ODIs, winning 18 T20Is and eight ODIs under his captaincy. In ODIs, Rohit led India to the Asia Cup 2018 victory in the UAE when Kohli took rest after a long and challenging tour of England. With the bat in these 10 games, Rohit has made 543 runs at 77.57 and a strike-rate of 97.31.
