Bringing home the trophy five times for Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma is the most successful captain ever in the history of the IPL.
A prolific run-getter as well, Sharma has been around since the inaugural edition, having represented the Deccan Chargers in the first three seasons. Since then, he has been an integral part of the Mumbai set-up and will look to win them a historic sixth title as he leads the team in the 2023 edition.
IPL experts Aakash Chopra, Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan, got together in an episode of Insiders Preview – Rohit on JioCinema and broke down the expectations from Rohit Sharma and his impact on the Mumbai Indians as their captain for the last ten years.
IPL expert Anil Kumble served as a mentor on the 2013 Mumbai Indians squad in Sharma’s first season as captain of the franchise. He shared his insights on Sharma’s leadership style and confidence. “He was not afraid to say what he had to say. He had plenty of experience around him and he reached out to them as well but then but took his own decisions. That’s what you want from a captain,” said Kumble Insiders Preview – Rohit show on JioCinema.
Kumble also spoke about him leading a new team in 2017 and said, “2017 was a new team and the kind of captaincy we saw from him in terms of defending low scores, that’s when your true leadership comes out.”
Zaheer Khan emphasized on how a captain’s role is the most important and said, “The captain’s role is of utmost importance, the way he is thinking and taking decisions in crucial stages in a cool manner and the right decisions, and if it doesn’t go your way, how he is handling the situation. It is a long tournament and every game’s performance can have an impact in the next game. Rohit has the ability and personality to absorb pressure very well. The way he communicates in a cool way, not just with players but also in press conferences, I think that is his biggest strength.”
Mumbai Indians have enjoyed tremendous success under Rohit’s leadership. That doesn’t mean he is any less lethal with the bat. Kumble however wants to see Sharma bat at number four, “Especially with the current MI team, you need that experience in the middle order. There are some wonderful batters that MI possesses, but I think someone like Rohit Sharma in the middle, controlling seven to fifteen overs is extremely critical.”
Aakash Chopra also broke down the impact Sharma has while batting and said, “When Rohit is batting, he does it beautifully and he’ll keep doing it. He’s doing it for India, for the Mumbai Indians. When he bats, he’s in a different league altogether,” said Chopra before posing an interesting question for Mumbai’s batting strategy this season.
“As a result of that, people keep debating what’s best for Rohit. What is the place where you can get the best out of Rohit? He can open and easily score a century over 20 overs. The question arises, what’s best for Mumbai? As Anil bhai said, he may be more useful to the team batting at number four. It’s a toss-up between what’s best for Rohit and what’s best for Mumbai.”(ANI)
