Under Rohit's captaincy, India have taken an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-Test series against England.
Under his leadership, India won the Asia Cup last year and made it to the World Cup 2023 final without losing a single match. He also guided the Test team to Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph against Australia last year.
Earlier this week, Rohit captained India to a series-clinching victory over England in the fourth Test match at Ranchi. The hosts managed to beat the Ben Stokes-led side despite missing the services of several first-choice players, including Virat Kohli.
Impressed with his captaincy, legendary Australian cricketer Ian Chappell heaped praise on Rohit Sharma, citing that the latter’s ability as a leader is "often overlooked".
"In the sudden shuffling of the Indian side after a prolonged period of selection stability, the leadership of Rohit Sharma is often overlooked. Rohit, in his quiet but efficient way, is a very different leader from the aggressive and highly visible Ben Stokes. His capable handling of the many changes to personnel and the tough loss of the first Test shows his resilience. He also produced a masterful century when the Indian team needed it, at the start of the third Test, to confirm he wasn't a ceremonial captain," wrote Chappell on ESPNcricinfo.
"Rohit has a pedigree of leadership success and his reputation helped him guide a fluid Indian line-up in the right direction,” he added.
While Chappell acknowledged India’s large pool of talent, he mentioned that it still needs the "guidance" of Rohit to keep the belief intact.
"Any failure in his leadership could easily have led this Indian team to faltering when the going got tough. There is no doubt the elite skill of (Jasprit) Bumrah and the talent of (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and the other inexperienced players India introduced to the team is helpful. However, it required the leadership guidance and the tactical nous of Rohit to ensure that a changing team retained belief in their cricket," Chappell stated.
"His clever use of Kuldeep (Yadav) during the third Test in the absence of (Ravichandran) Ashwin was a masterstroke in turning a potential disaster to the team's advantage. Rohit's ability to remain unyielding and calculating after a depressing loss in the first Test has helped his side bounce back against a competitive English team," the former Australia captain further remarked.
Having taken an unassailable 3-1 lead, India will now face England in the dead-rubber fifth Test match, scheduled to get underway on March 7 in Dharamsala.