Rohit Shama was asked to open for Team India in early 2013 against England during the home series, scoring 80 odd runs and followed that up with a steady show in the Champions Trophy. That proved to be a masterstroke of a decision as Sharma became pretty successful in limited-overs cricket for India. Post Dhoni's retirement, the Mumbai batsman has also admitted that Dhoni’s reading of a player’s ability is peerless.

“Whether he is up to the mark, only his performance will judge that. You can only do that if your other 5-6 batsmen are performing. If you keep losing games, you can’t give games to individuals. If you lose 3-4 games, you have to make a few changes. If you keep playing the same XI then others who are your bench strength won’t get a reality check of what they have on offer. It is slightly complex but what’s easiest and what always works during a series is to give the individual as much confidence as possible,” he added.

“I felt what helped he was playing against good players and playing a lot of matches and having the hunger to score runs irrespective of what level you are playing. Technique is important, right now there are many things that can assist you. Videos I always felt was the best example.When you are batting, you coach tells you your head is falling. The moment you see the video, you are the first one to tell the coach your head is falling. So visual reference is always of very good help,” he said.

“In the Indian setup, there are few things that we need to be careful about. We don’t like to show out weakness. Even when we know there is a problem, we don’t admit it. If you don’t admit it, you cannot improve. Admission of shortcoming is very important. You need to have the courage to overcome that. It boils down to your mindset.”

“Keeping it simple really helps. For some teams sledging is very important, for some hitting the right topic is important. You don’t have to abuse someone to turn the screw. Hitting the right topic can be subtle,” he said.

You can watch the video here: