Former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has shared how the former Australian great Adam Gilchrist had spotted the leadership qualities in a young Rohit Sharma when he had just started to play at the international level. Ojha has said that after Rohit on Wednesday was appointed as India’s ODI and T20I captain.
However, the opener will take over the reins from Virat Kohli in the upcoming series in South Africa in January as well. He has already taken the responsibility from Kohli in the shortest format as well. India will play three ODIs in South Africa. Apart from the limited-overs squad, Rohit Sharma has been named as the vice-captain of the Test team also, replacing Ajinkya Rahane, who had been struggling with the bat recently.
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Ojha has said that Rohit Sharma was not projected as a leader when he made his debut but he slowly started to gain confidence when he came in the IPL franchise Deccan Chargers and due to the persistence, former Australia batsman Gilchrist believed he could be a leader. Notably, he was an integral part of the IPL franchise and led them to the IPL title in 2009 as well.
“When Rohit first came into the Mumbai side, he was never projected as a leader. Slowly things started to change when he was put in the core group of the Deccan Chargers. Adam Gilchrist wanted Rohit Sharma to be the vice-captain,” Pragyan Ojha said on Cricbuzz Live.
“It had just maybe been two years that he had started playing international cricket but when he used to give feedbacks about certain players or give a certain game plan then the team management started to see the leadership qualities in him. Discussions had started within the Deccan Chargers team that if anyone was going to replace Gilchrist, it can be Rohit. People’s perspective about Rohit started to change from then that he is not only a capable batter but also can be a captain in future,” Pragyan Ojha again shared.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma’s first assignment as ODI skipper will be during the tour of South Africa, where India are scheduled to play three ODIs.
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