Rohit Sharma has captained India in 18 Tests and won 12 of them.
Former India captain Anil Kumble lavished rich praise on the captaincy and inspirational leadership of Rohit Sharma. His words come ahead of the first Test between India and New Zealand that is scheduled in Bengaluru on October 16, 2024.
India is no.1 in the World Test Championship standings and under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, defeated England 4-1 and then thrashed Bangladesh 2-0.
Anil Kumble said Rohit has been brilliant tactically and also praised the way he has been able to marshal the world-class resources at his disposal in the Indian team.
"Tactically, he's been brilliant in terms of being proactive in a Test match with the kind of resources that he has. He's been blessed to have that kind of resources with two world-class spinners and Bumrah, who you can literally throw the ball in the first over or in the 80th over, he'll come and do all his tricks. He is a world-class bowler and to have that kind of resource, he's been blessed,” Kumble said on JioCinema.
"But to marshal all of that and then navigate the younger lot, I think he's been brilliant. Someone like Yashasvi Jaiswal under Rohit's captaincy in his role as an opening batter, you see what he has shown with the kind of approach that he has had.
Shubman Gill, of course, has had to move from one and 2 to 3, which he has again done comfortably well here. KL Rahul has been moved up and down. That has again sat really well. It's great to have Rishabh Pant back and Virat, you know, at number four has done brilliantly under Rohit as well," said Kumble.
Kumble also feels that Rohit has got the team to rally around him and ensure that they get the job done on the field for him.
"To have all those resources. And we saw that even in the England Series, where he didn't have the services of Virat and Pant, and he had to manage with the younger lot. With Dhruv Jurel coming in and playing that match-winning knock and coming back from one-nil, I think that shows the leadership.
It's not that, you know, he's been scoring heavily. He's got the team to rally around and ensure that they still go on to win the last two Test matches. He didn't really score much with his bat, but he has inspired his team to go there and do the job for him," said Kumble.
In 18 matches under Rohit's captaincy, India has won 12 Tests and he has a win percentage of 66.66.