Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan compared Rohit Sharma with MS Dhoni. He said while the ex-wicketkeeper was called Captain Cool, the current Indian skipper is as cool as a ‘cucumber’.
Rohit was recently appointed India’s all-format skipper after Virat Kohli decided to step down from the role. The senior Indian opener is yet to lose a match as skipper and has whitewashed the opposition in every series he has captained since becoming the full-time skipper.
India is also on the verge of registering a 2-0 win against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Test series. This is Rohit’s first assignment as the Test skipper and he started on high as the hosts pounded the visitors by an innings and 222 runs in the first game in Mohali.
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The right-hander scored 46 runs in the second innings of the ongoing pink-ball Test match in Bengaluru and also stitched 42 runs with Mayank Agarwal for the opening stand. The main highlight of his innings was the sweep and the reverse sweeps that he played.
Rohit Sharma has had his ups and downs in his career but he has developed himself into one of the finest cricketers going around and is rated as one of the best openers to have played the game.
Speaking on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan talked about how Rohit after Cricket World Cup 2011 and Ravindra Jadeja after Champions Trophy 2017 elevated their career.
“Every player goes through that phase in his career when he isn’t able to perform and only left with disappointment. The current team has two such players: Jadeja and Rohit. Jadeja hasn’t looked back since the 2017 Champions Trophy final…
“and Rohit has changed a lot since the 2011 World Cup snub. There used to be a lot of talk about his talent. But he himself would say that he was much more than just talent,” Irfan Pathan said.
Pathan explained how Rohit Sharma grabbed his opportunity as an opener in 2013 and took his career to another level. He added that not only MS Dhoni is cool but the current Indian skipper is cool as a cucumber.
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“He worked hard on his skill-set and the best opportunity came in the 2013 Champions Trophy. He was given the role of opening the innings and that took Rohit’s career to another level. His performance was a notch above and that improved his consistency as well. We talk about Dhoni being Mr Cool but Rohit is cool as a cucumber,” he said.
Irfan Pathan further lavished rich praise on Sharma for changing the Mumbai Indians after taking over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting in 2013. He added that the right-hander lifted the side on his shoulder and one should learn from him how to get involved in the team’s growth.
“He was also appointed Mumbai Indians skipper midway through the season. He replaced Ricky Ponting and completely changed the Mumbai franchise. Mumbai does a lot of meetings and being involved in the process in detail is a tough task. One should learn from Rohit how to lift the side on his shoulders and be involved in his team’s growth,” he said.
(Star Sports inputs)
