Rohit Sharma’s captaincy is being hailed by one and all. First Ravichandran Ashwin, then Yashasvi Jaiswal and now Parthiv Patel. All three of them have narrated anecdotes praising Rohit the captain, but as cool as that sounds, the India captain at times tends to get carried away a little when on the field. It may be in jest, but some of Rohit’s gems that get recorded on the stump mic such as ‘jo bhi garden mein ghoomega…’ and more indicates he can become the strict captain when needed. Rohit may not be as aggressive or animated as his predecessor, Virat Kohli, but the India captain has his ways for sure, one that gets the job done for India.
Strictness is needed, points out Praveen Kumar. The former India seamer backed Rohit’s actions and elaborated the importance and necessity of scolding your players when need be. Especially today, when the whole IPL vs domestic vs country debate is flaring up with each passing day, Kumar reckons there is no harm in Rohit, as captain, wanting to pull up a player and give him a piece of his mind.
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“The careers of some players end at 30, and for others like Rohit, it begins. Rohit has that self-confidence, self-belief. And the way he is captaining; we heard him say ‘jo koi bhi garden mein ghoomega…’ he is absolutely right. Some players are not giving importance to playing for the country. So yeah, he is spot on in scolding them,” he said on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel.
Rohit’s Sharma form post 30 unbelievable, says Praveen Kumar
Rohit is one of the rare players whose batting seems to have hit yet another peak at 36. Guilty of being a late bloomer, Rohit’s career changed for the good when in 2013 he was made to open the batting for India, and continues to flourish in the role even today. But Rohit’s greatest asset, in 2024, has been his ability to make adjustments in his batting with time. He was promoted as India’s Test opener in 2019 and excelled there. In the World Cup 2023, he took up a totally different batting approach that threw oppositions off their games as he raced away to starts in 8 out of 9 out of the 11 games.
Kumar is confident that this is the best show of batsmanship by any player of his age and feels Rohit’s evolution will go a long way in breaking the misconception that players cannot get better once they cross 30.
“He has so much confidence right now, the way Rohit is batting – especially in the World Cup – he has shown what he is capable of. He may or may not score a hundred but he wanted to score 80 off 40 balls. It’s rare and amazing at the same time for Indian cricket that a player after 30 is doing all these incredible things. It will change that thinking that players need to be sidelined once they are 32-33,” added Kumar.
