Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has hailed Team India skipper Rohit Sharma, stating that he is a team-first type of captain. Rohit has been doing a fine job as a leader since he has taken over the baton from Virat Kohli.
Rohit is known to get the best out of his players and he is known to keep his calm in pressure situations. The veteran has all the experience under his belt and he will be looking to guide the team to glory in the T20I showpiece.
However, the Indian team will be without the services of their gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Daren Sammy told journalist Vimal Kumar in an interview on the latter’s YouTube channel: “I love the way he captains. That’s why Mumbai Indians have been one of the most successful IPL franchises. He is not a ‘him-first’ but a ‘team-first’ type of captain. When you have a leader that could motivate men, it doesn’t matter who does the job for the team, the team comes first. And Rohit Sharma comes across like that to me.”
India has adopted an aggressive batting approach under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma but their bowling remains a concern ahead of the T20 World Cup. Speaking on the team’s new template of batting, Sammy added that one has to keep updating the apps on his phone.
“You have an app on your phone and you have to keep updating it. When they won, that (old) method was okay. But when you have teams that are capable of hitting boundaries, their chances of them scoring quicker than you will always be there. If you consolidate too much, you set yourself back. And if the people consolidating get out, then you have two new batters coming in.
“If you go hard and try to put the bowlers under pressure early, even if you lose wickets, you are so high in the run-rate, you can still consolidate. That’s what I see has changed with Rohit Sharma and India now. They have the personnel to actually do it. It would be interesting to see how it goes at this year’s World Cup in Australia.”
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on 23rd October.