‘He always keeps the environment of the team light’ – Ravi Ashwin on Rohit Sharma’s captaincy

Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin (Twitter)

Ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently compared the captaincy styles of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and the current Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. Ashwin, who has played under all three captains, spoke about the unique attributes that set Rohit’s leadership apart.

Rohit’s captaincy has been above par in the Indian Premier League, where he has led Mumbai Indians to five titles, and in his limited-overs outings for the national team. Ashwin went on to emphasize Sharma’s tactical acumen and his ability to maintain a positive team environment. He revealed that the star opener likes to keep things light and is very balanced.

“2-3 things are nice about Rohit’s captaincy. He always keep the environment of the team light. He makes an effort to keep it light. And he stays very balanced and tactically he is strong. That’s his strength but he always keeps the environment of the team light and backs the players. If he selects a player in the XI, he backs them 100%. I have played most of my career with these three captains,” Ashwin said in an interview with journalist Vimal Kumar.

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The 37-year-old also opened up about how Sharma likes to prepare ahead of a big match or a series and likes to sit down with the analytics team and the coaches and plan for each player.

“Both Dhoni and Virat were also tactically strong but Rohit works more on the tactics. If any big match or series is coming up, Rohit sits with the analytics team and coach and prepares for it, like what’s the weakness of a particular batsman, what’s the plan of a bowler,” he further added.

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However, Ashwin also emphasized Rohit’s ability to maintain a relaxed team environment, in contrast to current Head coach Gautam Gambhir’s more intense personality.

“I have played one or two series with Gauti bhai. Gauti bhai is also very intense. Gauti bhai and Rohit have similarities in their leadership, but Rohit keeps it light and Gauti bhai keeps it intense. It is only a way. Gauti bhai is an intense man, he is very passionate, he is very passionate about Indian cricket, which is exactly how Rahul Dravid is also. Rahul bhai is also passionate about Indian cricket, Gauti is also passionate about Indian cricket, but we feel that both are different because they have different personalities, every human being is different from the other,” he concluded.