Russel Arnold, former Sri Lanka all-rounder, praised Rohit Sharma, saying the Indian captain "leads from the front" and "doesn't have to say much" to get his teammates to follow his vision ahead of this year's T20 World Cup.
After their early exit from the T20 World Cup last year, Arnold said India needed a different voice, which they found in Rohit. After hammering Sri Lanka by 62 runs in the first of the three-match T20I series, the former Sri Lanka cricketer made his comments as India extended their winning streak in T20Is to a new high of ten.
Since taking over as India's full-time T20I captain from Virat Kohli, Rohit has not lost a T20I match. Following a 3-0 win over a visiting New Zealand side last year, India, led by new captain Virat Kohli, thrashed the West Indies 3-0 earlier this month before extending their dominance over Sri Lanka.
India appears to have made it clear under Rohit that they will take a much more aggressive approach in the first six overs. Rohit Sharma's batting at the top of the order has demonstrated this. Rohit Sharma smashed a quickfire 32-ball 44 on Thursday, putting together a match-winning 111-run opening stand with Ishan Kishan.
"Different voice is sometimes good for a team, that's what India needed. I thought in that T20 World Cup, the pressure of expectations seemed to wear them down. Now that it's over, all of them are able to express themselves. The captain himself, he generally leads from the front. We never felt he was scoring, but was scoring with a strike rate of 140-150, which is exceptional." Arnold told Star Sports.
"If someone can look so good and look so cool, he really doesn't have to say much. Everyone will follow him. The depth is there in the Indian line-up and that will make Rohit's life a lot easier," he added.
Rohit Sharma, who took over as India's full-time limited-overs captain from Virat Kohli last year, was recently named Test captain as well.
Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar praised Rohit Sharma for playing second fiddle to Ishan Kishan in the first T20I against Sri Lanka, saying that the skipper used all of his experience to let his explosive opening partner dominate their partnership.
"You want to get off to a quick start. That is what you got from Rohit and Ishan. Rohit's experience and captaincy skills came through because he didn't try to outscore Ishan when he was batting well. He was happy to take singles and give Ishan the strike," he added.
India scored 199 runs before limiting Sri Lanka to 137/6 in 20 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
