It was MS Dhoni who promoted a young Rohit Sharma to open the innings for Team India in the limited-overs format. Dhoni’s masterstroke paid India rich dividends as Rohit revived his career to become one of the greatest batters in white-ball cricket. Even India skipper Rohit admitted that Dhoni’s move changed his career. Rohit first opened for India in 2013 against England. India last won an ICC trophy in the same year when Dhoni was at the helm.
Fast-forward the clock to the present, Rohit is leading Team India at the grandest stage of them all—the T20 World Cup. In his second T20 World Cup as the leader of the Men In Blue, Rohit is aiming to emulate Dhoni by lifting the famous trophy. Just like former skipper Virat Kohli, veteran opener Rohit has collected many captaincy nuances from Dhoni.
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‘Rohit believes in that ability’
Former India pacer Shanthakumaran Nair Sreesanth discussed Rohit’s tactical brilliance at the Star Sports Press Room. “Tactically, if you look at Axar Patel, a lot of people were questioning Axar Patel’s ability in the middle overs. Whenever he’s got an opportunity, he’s come out with those crucial breakthroughs. In fact, even his economy rate is so low that it helps the other bowlers. And the catch which Axar took, I think for me, that was the game-changer. Axar even said, ‘I was not expecting the catch, but I just went with both hands and it happened to me.’ That is because preparation is key. Rohit believes in that ability,” Sreesanth noted.
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Rohit will lead Team India in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup against defending champions England. Rohit and Co. were outplayed by England in their previous semi-final meeting at the T20 World Cup in 2022. Sreesanth gave Dhoni special mention when talking about the captaincy evolution of the Hitman. According to Sreesanth, Rohit can also surprise his teammates like Dhoni.
‘We always talk about Mahi Bhai…’
“We always talk about Mahi Bhai (MS Dhoni) and how we won the World Cup and his street smartness. I think Rohit has got the same capability where he can surprise his own teammates. He might suddenly call up his teammates and say ‘be ready.’ Rohit believes in his instincts and intuition. So, even when the captain does that and surprises his own teammates and tells every bowler to be ready, like Mahi Bhai used to do. He used to tell us, ‘Shree (Sreesanth) be ready, Ajit (Agarkar) be ready, Bhajji (Harbhajan) be ready.’ You can be called at any time because that’s how games are won with street smartness,” the former India pacer added.
