India Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma has received lots of respect and love from his younger teammates. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel made their India Test debuts under Rohit in the England Test series early this year.
Both were impressed with the bat and gave glimpses of their enormous talent. Sarfaraz Khan scored 200 runs in 3 Tests with 3 fifties to his name, while Jurel scored 190 runs with a best score of 90 and kept brilliantly.
Sarfaraz was given the license to play his naturally aggressive game in the middle order in his maiden series and India benefited from the approach.
Sarfaraz Khan talked up the impact of Rohit Sharma on the Indian cricket team, likening the India captain to Aamir Khan's lead character from the Bollywood blockbuster 'Lagaan'.
"He is very different. He makes you feel very comfortable. Rohit Sharma is like a big brother. We enjoy playing a lot while playing under him. First, I saw him from the outside, now I have played with him to experience it. He doesn't treat us like juniors, he treats everybody equally.
Lagaan is my favorite movie. Like how Aamir Khan made that team in the movie, in my eyes, Rohit Sharma is like Aamir Khan for this team," Sarfaraz Khan told JioCinema.
Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel praised Rohit's smooth batting style, saying he was in awe of the opening batter's performance from close quarters.
"When we used to watch him on TV, people used to say 'He has a lot of time (to play his shots). But, when you watch it from close, you realize that the deliveries that you struggle with, the deliveries for which your bat doesn't flow properly, he is easily hitting them into the stands. His pull shot is very famous. Watching these things from up close is special. He is a GOAT," Jurel said.
Both Sarfaraz and Jurel found places in India's squad, led by Rohit Sharma, for the 2-Test series against Bangladesh.