There are two versions of India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain, Rohit Sharma, who has been quite popular in the last few years. The former T20I player of the Indian team is one of those players, who remains so concentrated with the bat while opening, but comes up with a different angle in the field to light up the environment.
Rohit Sharma missed out by an inch to win last year’s ODI World Cup at home, as they lost the final against Australia after being unbeaten throughout the tournament. He was in a similar position in the T20 World Cup 2024 but held the nerves to gather his second title as a player and first as a captain.
The Nagpur-born finished as the second-highest run-getter of the event with 257 runs in eight innings at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of under 160, celebrating three half-centuries with a best score of 92 against Australia in St Lucia.
“Rohit Sharma says a few things on the stump mic”- Jonty Rhodes
The fielding coach of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Jonty Rhodes, who has seen the 37-year-old grow as batter and captain, brought the ‘naughty’ side of the veteran.
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It was a past incident during the second of the five-match red-ball series between India and England at Vizag, when Rohit Sharma politely said “Koi bhi garden mein ghumega toh’ to his teammates who were losing intensity towards the end of the game. Earlier in the year, he was perplexed when umpire Virender Sharma refused to give him runs on a leg-bye, after the batter made two back-to-back ducks in the first two encounters of the three-match series against Afghanistan.
“The way that he interacts with his teammates, he’s quite a character. He’s quite a naughty boy, almost. He says a few things on the stump mic and you go ‘Oh! Do you know people are listening, Ro?’ I don’t understand all of it but it’s always broadcast and translated for us.” The former South African coach revealed this in an interview with ‘Revsportz’.
One of the biggest qualities of Rohit Sharma as a captain of the side has been his incredible character in making the young and new players comfortable in the dressing room, something which the former Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, also touched on.
“From a captaincy point of view, he has been superb. I was with him at MI for a quite few seasons. He grew as a captain there and that’s the best thing about him.” Rhodes noted.
The last few years have been different when it comes to the batting of Rohit Sharma, who has brought a different angle and dimension to his game, something which is quite vital and Jonty isn’t surprised with any of the developments.
“Cricketers have to keep reinventing themselves. You are found out easily at the international level. I was dropped for two years from Test cricket because I had a technical issue.” The Natal-born shaded light. “If you look at Rohit, so much cricket has been played that if you don’t evolve, you are going to be stuck. People are going to figure you out.”
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The veteran also advised that if Rohit Sharma could keep on batting in the same manner in the future, then he could be more successful in the future, especially in the white-ball format of the game.
“What you see now, if you finish your international career, doesn’t mean your career is over. There’s still a lot of opportunities. We’ve seen so many guys carry on and play at the IPL. From the perspective, I think he’s got some of the best years ahead of him.” Jonty Rhodes concluded.