ODI World Cup: The traits that make Rohit Sharma the captain, and how he differs from his predecessors Kohli and Dhoni | Cricket-world-cup News

“I didn’t notice what shot it was. Covers k upar na?” Rohit Sharma queried on the freshly-unveiled huge Sachin Tendulkar statue staring down at the training Indians from the cow corner at the Wankhede stadium. “No, Rohit, it’s a lofted straight drive,” someone in the press pack informed.“Ah! Okay. Ab straight lofted shot wahan hai to hai, (if its a straight lofted shot there, then it’s there!) Mein kya bolun ab? (What can I say about it?) Hope you guys enjoy it!” Typically, he brought the house down again, a day ahead of the game against Sri Lanka where no one is in any doubt about the overwhelming favourites.
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Rohit possesses a unique ability to strip any occasion of its gravitas and has an air of nonchalant lightness about him that it’s difficult to realise that he is the Indian captain in the middle of a high-pressure World Cup campaign in India. It’s tempting to extend that emotion and think that stress-free ease would have pervaded among the team too, especially as they are bossing around on the field, but that we will not know.
He also has the self-awareness to puncture any myth-making about his captaincy run. When a questioner praised his leadership skills and asked him to detail the World Cup journey, he smiled as he said: “I know how this game is played. One or two matches, if we lose, I will become a bad captain! So I don’t think about all that.”
Similar line of questioning was pursued during an interview with him for this newspaper before the tournament about the pressures of captaincy and if it affects his highly-prized sleep. Again that smile. “Nothing durbs my sleep. Sleep is my favourite thing, be it any situation or position!”
Not without worries
Not that he wasn’t worried about a few things ahead of the tournament. When the chat circled around the No.4, he mentioned his faith in Shreyas Iyer, and said he was more concerned about the batting from No.8 onwards.
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“This number 8 position, everyone should talk about that instead of number four. We have a big problem there at No.8. People have not been there at number 8. You cannot have your batting finish at number seven,” he told this newspaper. “In the series in the West Indies, we lost the first T20I because we needed 10 runs in 6 balls. Recently, Pakan slammed 11 runs in 6 balls to win a game against Afghanan (Naseem Shah’s cameo had clinched that game). Unka depth kar diya na (their depth in lower order did that) we weren’t able to do it.”
 
The nonchalance doesn’t translate into any laxity in preparation. Rohit is a captain who prepares extensively, watches a lot of games, and thinks about potential match-ups. (Reuters)
This was the time when R Ashwin was yet to be blooded into the squad; Axar Patel was in the team. “We need to create that depth and I am trying to create that depth which is why, if you have genuine spinners, who cannot bat, it’s a big problem. You can have one spinner who cannot bat but you cannot have 2-3 spinners. That is why we picked three all-rounders, we need to create that depth. We have to work towards getting better,” he said.
Not long after that chat, he would reconsider and bring in Ashwin after Axar got injured. That batting lower down does worry this team management a touch and hence they kept playing Shardul Thakur initially until an injury to their main allrounder Hardik Pandya forced them to bring in Mohammad Shami.
Extensive preparation
The nonchalance doesn’t translate into any laxity in preparation. He is a captain who prepares extensively, watches a lot of games, and thinks about potential match-ups. If there is to be a criticism on him, it mostly isn’t about his on-field tactics but about the selections.
He admits to errors in it without taking any names. “In five Test matches we won we made a lot of makes, I made a lot of makes. Not picking the right players. Tactically too I have got wrong in a lot of stages in Tests and white-ball cricket. Like I should have given two overs more in a spell type of tactic.”
The love and fussing about cricket tactics didn’t just come when he became a captain but it’s been from childhood. He is one of the rare cricket tragic in modern-day cricket, who would spend most of his time watching games from all over the world. Even as a kid. At the insence of his grandfather, who felt his parents are under financial strain and will find it difficult to rear two kids, Rohit grew up at his grandfather’s home along with uncles and aunts. A household that lived and breathed cricket.
“We used to watch games together 24/7. There was no news, nothing. We used to see highlights and games. My uncles were kings of tennis-ball cricket in the neighbourhood and all we would do, when we weren’t playing, was watch cricket. Nothing else – movies etc caught our imagination. It was cricket 24/7. Uncles would talk about strategies and tactics, I soaked up all that I guess.” And when he became the IPL captain, he says he learnt a lot about preparation from the coach Ricky Ponting.
But it’s that nonchalant easy attitude that ties all this intensity in preparing and thinking about the game. He has a natural ease that doesn’t allow him to get bogged down stress. In that, he is different from a few other captains India has seen.

MS Dhoni, especially as he grew older and quit Test captaincy, had that aura of control and composure and an impeccable sense of the game on field that his team began to imbibe. Off field, he is hands off, and turns the cricket tap once he enters the field. The coach Stephen Fleming takes care of the off-field stuff. Of late, in IPL, Dhoni has exuded a regal air, and his young team-mates act as if they are happy subjects of a benevolent ruler.Most Read
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Virat Kohli was most intense, trying to drag his team along with him. More than tactical nous, it was his persona where he tried to use abrasiveness as a positive trait that stood out. The opponents felt it. The South African Test captain Dean Elgar had once told this newspaper about how he views Kohli the captain. “The competitive spirit is driven Virat. He is very competitive, and we can see that he is trying to change the culture there. They didn’t just want to play the series but wanted to win. That was awesome.”

Rohit is chilled. His tactical moves on field are perhaps more in the terrain of Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain, who had the ability to keep the game moving, plotting it with a mix of pre-game plans and on-field instinct. Rohit can be vocal, cajole, smile, slip in a stern word and feel every pulsating moment of the contest, but without the in-your-face intensity of a Kohli. There is no ideal way to lead a team; each unit demands a customised approach. Rohit is doing his thing, and so far it’s been a great run this World Cup.
If India slip up in the knockouts, it would be highly unlikely due to his on-field captaincy. If it happens, it may erupt from selection calls and the team composition. He knows he has slipped up on that front in the past. Pretty soon, we shall know if he is able to avoid it in this World Cup.