Sharma: We have ticked all boxes
INDIA’S STAND-IN CAPTAIN REVEALS HE APPROACHES CHALLENGES SAME WAY DHONI DOES
The Asia Cup, which concluded with a thrilling finish on Friday night, has once again underlined the leadership potential in Rohit Sharma — so often India’s go-to person in limited overs cricket.
It was a challenging assignment for the Mumbai batsman, who filled in for rested Virat Kohli with aplomb to marshal his troops against the subcontinental rivals in extremely harsh conditions — but came out on top in a style strikingly different than his celebrated teammate.
There had been a few worrying situations for him during the opening match against Hong Kong and then against a spirited Bangladesh in the final, but Rohit was hardly remonstrative and tried to absorb the pressure by thinking on his feet. To a query if he would be game to take over the responsibility full time in the shorter formats, after his success in the Nidahas Trophy T-20 tri-series and now the Asia Cup, he looked caught at the crease for a split second before replying in zest: “Absolutely, we have just won, so I am ready. Whenever the opportunity comes, I will be ready.”
Middle order conundrum
Replying to another question on the help that he may have received from senior pro Mahendra Singh Dhoni here, Rohit revealed that he preferred the captaincy model of India’s World Cup-winning captain.
“Whenever there are questions on the field, he’s there to answer. I’ve seen him captaining, he never panics. He thinks for a few seconds and then makes the decision. I also try to think and then react. We’ve learnt a lot from him by playing under him. He’s always there to advice.”
A somewhat valid criticism of India’s campaign in Dubai had been whether the team management could have done better in solving some of their middle order conundrum, with the No. 4 and 6 slots up for grabs with the ICC World Cup only seven months away.
Lokesh Rahul, one of the most technically equipped batsmen in the squad, sat in the dugout except during the Afghanistan game, while Dinesh Karthik and out-of-sorts Dhoni took turns to come in the middle. Karthik impressed in patches scoring 44 and 37 against Afghanistan and the final, respectively, while Kedhar Jadhav made a few handy contributions including an unbeaten 23 that helped India past the line on Friday.
“We pretty much have clarity on No. 4 and 6, they should get more games as the World Cup gets closer. It’s too early to judge or say they’ve sealed the spot. I shouldn’t be saying that as it’s not the time now. Come World Cup we’ll have a clear picture. The next few tournaments will be ideal for us to judge as a management where they stand as players.”
Commenting on the think tank’s philosophy of giving a long rope to the players, Rohit said: “When we came here I wanted to give them the assurance first that they’re going to be playing all the games. That’s how you make players,” before going on to add: “You need to give them assurance about playing freely without any pressure. If you know that after two games you’ll be dropped, it won’t be easy for anyone. It’s important to keep the team consistent and that is something we spoke at the start of the tournament. I wanted to give everybody a fair run and play more games. That’s how you’ll understand a player’s capability. You can’t judge in one game.”
Ravindra return
Rohit was also lavish in praise of Ravindra Jadeja, who returned to the ODI side after more than a year and made vital all-round contributions in the tournament. “When you’re out of the team, you have the fire inside you, the burning desire to come back and prove to yourself than anyone else,” said Rohit.
“I think he has proved to himself that he is much better than what he was before. I clearly remember he flew the night before and played the next day against Bangladesh and got four wickets.
“Even today, he didn’t bowl 10 overs but his batting and fielding abilities are very crucial. That run out was the turning point as that gave us a way to come back into the game.
“He knows that and as a team we understand what he brings to the table. His 25-odd runs [23] were as good as scoring a 50 or 60 in the context of the game.”
Asked how would he ensure there’s continuity in the team’s thinking, when Kohli comes back in the series against the West Indies, Rohit said: “I’ve led India before, not for a while but in just one-off tournaments, I understand the dynamics of this team, how we play cricket and how we want to go forward as a team.
“Taking everything into consideration, we wanted to move forward. I think in this tournament I can say that we ticked all boxes. That’s the challenge now when we go and play wherever we go and play, to keep continuing to tick those boxes and get better as a team.”