India has recently won the five-match Test series against England 4-1. After losing the first Test in Hyderabad the hosts were under pressure in the absence of big names for the Vizag Test. However, Rohit Sharma’s on-field and off-field leadership shone through in blooding the youngsters into the side and tactically suppressing the ‘Bazball’ approach of the visitors at the same time.
Rohit seemed to be a lot more relaxed on the field compared to his predecessor Virat Kohli who never shied away from displaying his emotions on-field. Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain would recall India’s famous win in 2021 under Kohli in Lords when India managed to bowl out England in 60 overs to force a result and take the lead in the series.
“Don’t confuse (Rohit with Virat’s captaincy) because he has come off the back of Virat Kohli. In your face, aggressive captain. In the huddle at Lord’s, saying let’s unleash hell on the England batting lineup. Rohit is not quite the same sort of person. He has that fire burning within, Hussain would say on Sky Sports Podcast.
“I think sometimes people confuse Rohit as a laidback cricketer who just lets the game drift. There is a lot of skill, thought, and brilliance about his batting. And I thought he had an excellent series as captain. He said in the press conference that he has had to learn and adapt his style of captaincy at times,” Hussain added.
Change in Ashwin’s role-Testament to flexibility in tactics
In the early part of the series, Rohit refrained from giving the new ball to veteran R Ashwin however, as the series went along the skipper would be flexible with his tactics and threw the new SG ball to the off-spinner in the second innings which bore fruits. (Ben) Duckett, sitting there and waiting with his nemesis Ashwin, would get to the 60s-70s before Ashwin comes on. But Rohit learned from something he wasn’t getting right,” the former England captain analyzed.
Source:indianexpress.com