“He always keep the environment of the team light” : Ravichandran Ashwin speaks about Rohit Sharma’s captaincy

Ravichandran Ashwin has been in the Indian cricket team dynamics long enough to know a thing or two about his peers of the past and present. The 37-year-old off-spinner has played vital roles under the captaincies of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

The veteran recently expressed his thoughts over the differences between the three captains, particularly Rohit Sharma. The 37-year-old opening batsman was handed the keys to captaincy from his teammate and friend Virat Kohli post the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

Shortly after being named captain of all three formats of the game, the veteran has made the team collectively better with improved performances from the pace department and the youngsters as well. Sharma’s crowning moment in his captaincy came when he led India to win the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies, where the team won by the barest of margins but overperformed in all other games. Apart from this, the 37-year-old has also led India to the ICC Cricket World Cup final and the WTC final as well.

“Rohit works more on the tactics” : Ashwin reveals key differences between Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni

In a recent interview, the veteran off-spinner talked about Rohit Sharma’s pre-match planning and how he sets things up ahead of a big game.

“If there is any big match or series coming up, Rohit sits with the analytics team and coach and prepares for it, like what’s the weakness of a particular batsman, what’s the plan of a bowler. That’s his strength but he always keeps the environment of the team light and backs the players. If he selects a player in the XI, he backs them 100%. I have played most of my career with these three captains.” said the 37-year-old (via Vimal Kumar’s YouTube channel).

Ashwin also explained how he thinks the Indian batsman has a slightly different approach than his previous captains, and how he always makes an effort to lighten the squad’s mood as well.

“2-3 things are nice about Rohit’s captaincy. He always keeps the environment of the team light. He makes an effort to keep it light. And he stays very balanced and tactically he is strong. Both Dhoni and Virat were also tactically strong but Rohit works more on the tactics.” revealed Ashwin.

This may well come as a surprise to some, as fans usually think that out of the three captains, MS Dhoni was the one with the most tactical mindset. While others believe that the legendary Indian captain just had a unique way of looking at things, and that he applied his unorthodox style of field positioning and ‘street smartness’ to get the better of his opponent.

As for Ravichandran Ashwin, he is currently at the top spot in the bowler’s ICC rankings in test cricket, and is set to return to the pitch under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. India will face Bangladesh in a two-match test series starting on September 19.

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