Former India cricketer and NCA chief VVS Laxman was all praises for India captain Rohit Sharma for admitting that he erred in judgment as he chose to bat first after winning the toss against New Zealand in the first Test in Bengaluru.
Rohit Sharma ignored the overcast, cloudy conditions on day 2 when the toss happened after the first day was rained out. India was bundled out for 46 runs, their lowest Test total at home and third overall.
VVS Laxman on Friday praised Rohit Sharma for taking ownership of the wrong call at the toss in the first Test against New Zealand, saying that he does a “phenomenal job” in leading by example.
The Indian captain addressed the media after the game on Thursday, admitting that he failed in reading the M Chinnaswamy Stadium surface and stating that not all decisions made by leadership are always correct.
“For leaders, it’s humanly impossible not to make mistakes. We won the toss and we elected to bat first and it was counterproductive (because) we were bowled out for 46. Who went to the press conference? It was Rohit Sharma. He accepted that ‘yes, I misread the wicket’. Leaders take ownership of (their) decisions.
It’s not necessary that every time the decisions are right, but you take the ownership and then whenever the team doesn’t do well, you go and face the flak. Whenever the team does well, you promote the guy who actually requires that recognition and that limelight,” Laxman told a gathering at the Security Now 2024 conference by Seclore.
While identifying preparation and a roadmap as crucial aspects for success, Laxman stated that outstanding leaders are the top performers in any team, and Rohit has done a "phenomenal job" with the Indian team.
Laxman said: “Great leaders are the best performers in a particular team, (a) classical example is Rohit Sharma. What he has done, the way he’s leading the Indian team is just phenomenal. He (has) told (his teammates) that, ‘okay, this is the style of cricket I want our team to play’, and he’s going out and doing that, (the) selfless style of batting and playing the game.”
“In the bargain, that can (also) impact and affect his performance. But he’s making that decision and that bold statement saying ‘I’ll back you as long as you go out and play the brand I want our Indian team to play’,” he added.
(PTI inputs)
