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Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has been a busy man answering questions revolving around his stint with Team India which came to an end after the T20 World Cup 2021. And in a recent interview, Shastri talked about India's new white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma and how he felt that was plenty of talent in him which needed to be utilised even in Test match cricket.
Notably, while The Hitman had already established himself as one of the finest white-ball batters in world cricket, it wasn't until he was given the opener's slot in Test cricket that he found his groove in the longest format of the game. In a big revelation, Shastri recalled himself telling Rohit to start opening for Mumbai in the domestic circuit way back in 2014.
"I thought if I can't get the best out of Rohit Sharma (in Tests), then I'm a failure as a coach," he told Star Sports.
Virat captains like Kapil Dev, Rohit like Sunil Gavaskar: Ravi Shastri
Shastri even compared the captaincy styles of Virat and Rohit to yesteryear legends Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar. While Shastri said that Virat was much like Kapil - both trusting their gut, Rohit thought like Gavaskar - calculated and calm. He said that the team did not think much about what was being said on the outside regarding the captaincy drama.
During the same interview, Shastri said that the fact that Virat and himself had similar personalities helped during his coaching stint. He admitted that both of them thought aggressively and played to win a Test match. He stated that for them to win Tests, they realised that they needed to pick 20 wickets and started identifying and picking players who could get them the results in the long run.
As of now, Team India are in South Africa competing in the first Test match against the home country at Centurion. This is the first overseas Test assignment for new head coach Rahul Dravid and he does not have the experience of Rohit at the top of the order since he has been ruled out with an injury. In his absence, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal batted out the entire first session and went back separated at Tea having taken India to 157/2.