Rohit Sharma has had a great start to his Test captaincy. The 35-year-old has won the first four Tests he has captained in. As India beat Australia by six wickets in the second Test of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, Sharma got included in an elusive list. He became the only second Indian skipper to win his first four Tests. Only MS Dhoni has achieved this unique feat.
The four wins for Rohit as captain have come against Sri Lanka (2) and Australia (2) and at home. Nevertheless, Sharma is being hailed for his leadership skills in the longest format of the game. The way Rohit has utilised his resources has been exemplary. For example, knowing that spinners will get help from the wicket, Sharma attacked with Ravichandran Ashwin upfront in Australia’s second innings in the second Test.
He did not even bother calling Mohammed Siraj to bowl as Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were ripping through the Australian batting lineup. As a result, India bundled Australia for 113 and went on to win the second Test by six wickets. The win in Nagpur was also empathic for India as they had defeated Australia by an inning and 132 runs.
With Rohit rising to the ranks as Test captain, experts have been heaping praise on the 35-year-old. Meanwhile, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has claimed that Rohit is doing nothing different but is just following what Virat Kohli used to do when he was the captain.
"Honestly, I have always believed that Rohit Sharma is an amazing captain, but there is not much difference between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's captaincy, especially in this format. Virat Kohli started this template," Gambhir told Star Sports.
“Virat Kohli has captained exceptionally well whenever he has captained this Test team and Rohit is probably following that template only. Honestly, Rohit has not created his own template. The way Virat Kohli managed Ashwin and Jadeja, it is absolutely identical captaincy," Gambhir added.
Gambhir also said that while Rohit has been phenomenal leading India in home conditions, he will be up against a real challenge when the team plays overseas. "The real challenge for Rohit Sharma will be when he goes to Australia, South Africa and England because there were big challenges for Virat Kohli there,” said Gambhir.
