Rohit Sharma also opened up about his leadership style.
Rohit Sharma has come a long way as he has already established himself as one of the great openers, especially in limited-overs cricket. However, after establishing himself as India’s most dependable opener across the three formats, the right-hander had to go through a topsy-turvy time.
However, Rohit is now Team India captain in all three formats and has even secured his place in the Test side. Recently, the Indian skipper shared the three key turning points in his career.
Speaking on the Star Sports show Follow the Blues, Rohit Sharma said: “Since I made my debut, I had to do well in domestic cricket to get recognized by the national selectors. So I guess doing well there in the under-19 tournament was the first turning point giving me a break in international cricket.”
He also mentioned MS Dhoni’s decision to play him as an opener in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy as it proved a turning point for his career, as he has never seen back since then.
Rohit added, “Another break was in 2013 when I started opening the batting for India. That was another turning point.”
Meanwhile, Rohit was named Mumbai Indians captain in 2013 and the opener said it was a game changer for him.
Speaking about the same, he noted: “In the same year, I became captain of Mumbai Indians. To me, that was the game changer. I feel that strongly because captaincy has brought a lot of change in my attitude towards the game and handling myself.
Understanding the game a lot more. Understanding others, and your teammates as well. So I got to learn a lot off my own teammates and myself becoming a captain.”
On his captaincy, Rohit said: “What I have done over the years with MI franchise, and also the time that I have led India, keeping it simple and not complicating the things too much. Making sure that guys whatever I have spoken of giving the guys that freedom, making them understand what their role is, that is what I will be expecting of myself.”
He signed off by saying, “That is what I want to do for the team and players, that there is no confusion. That’s the last thing you want, especially when you are playing a high-profile tournament. And that is where my role becomes very crucial along with Rahul Bhai.”