Former Indian team bowler Praveen Kumar showered rich praise on Rohit Sharma for his exceptional leadership qualities. The former pacer described Rohit as a 'yaaro ka yaar' (friend of friends).
Ever since Rohit took over Team India’s captaincy from Virat Kohli, the Men in Blue reached the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinals, the 2023 ODI World Cup final, and the 2023 WTC final, apart from winning several bilateral series both at home and away.
Hailing the right-hander’s captaincy, Praveen said that Rohit gives his players all liberty on the field, and he is currently doing a fantastic job as the Indian skipper.
Praveen Kumar was quoted as saying by Times of India: “Rohit is a fantastic skipper. He is leading the side really well. Sourav Ganguly was the one who built the team. He created the team with a mix of youngsters and experienced players.”
He added, “Rohit is 'Yaaro ka Yaar' (friend of friends). He scolds the players when they make mistakes and hugs them too. He guides them and gives them all liberty on the field.”
Rohit has an incredible record as captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL), leading Mumbai Indians (MI) to five title triumphs in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. However, Rohit was replaced by Hardik Pandya as MI captain ahead of the IPL 2024.
Speaking about losing MI’s captaincy, Praveen said: “Rohit knows his role really well. He knows he has to go in the middle and score runs. I don't think it (losing MI captaincy) would affect Rohit in any way because he knows his role well. It won't matter to Rohit whether he is a captain or not.”
He signed off by saying, “He is a mature and experienced cricketer. I am sure Mumbai Indians management must have spoken to Rohit before taking this decision (giving captaincy to Hardik). Without any conversation and talk with Rohit, MI can't take this big decision.”
(With TOI Inputs)
