Rohit Sharma has learnt art of captaincy from MS Dhoni, feels Karn Sharma
Karn Sharma feels that Rohit is similar to Dhoni
|Getty
Karn Sharma, who played four international matches for the Indian side in 2014, feels that Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni are similar captains and believes that the Mumbaikar learnt a lot from the former Indian skipper. Karn also noted that Dhoni gave better feedback than any other cricketer.
Despite having the towering presence of incumbent skipper Virat Kohli in the national side, Rohit Sharma, the Indian limited-overs side vice-captain, has managed to establish a name for himself as a fine leader and the Mumbaikar has done a fine job in the limited opportunities heâs had to captain the national side. In fact, such has been Rohitâs excellence as a leader - in both the IPL and the national team - that there have been calls by former cricketers and experts alike for Kohli to hand over white-ball captaincy to the phlegmatic Mumbaikar.Â
And according to Karn Sharma, who played under Rohitâs captaincy for Mumbai Indians in 2017, one of the primary reasons for the 33-year-old being a world-class captain might be the fact that he learnt a lot from Dhoni. Karn also noted that both Rohit and Dhoni were similar captains - always cool and calm on the field.Â
âRohit and MS Dhoni are quite similar as captains. I think Rohit has learned a lot from MS, since he has played for so many years under him. Both bring in calmness and give complete freedom to their bowlers for setting their own field. Only if it doesnât work out, they will come up with another plan,â Karn said in a conversation with sports presenter Dr Yash Kashikar on his Instagram live show âSay Yash to Sportsâ.
While Karnâs Test debut, which came against Australia in Adelaide in 2014, was one to forget, he did, however, have a very pleasant outing on his T20I debut against England in the same year, as he finished with figures of 1/28 in a high-scoring game at Edgbaston. The leg-spinner, who now plays for Railways, revealed that one of the major reasons for him excelling on his T20I debut was Dhoni, who, he revealed, was constantly giving him advice from behind the stumps.Â
âI still remember when I made my T20 debut against England, he (Dhoni) told me âisko first ball googly daalâ (bowl a googly first up). I was new and Joe Root was batting. He said 'Ye pakka tere ko reverse sweep maarega, to pehla ball googly daal' (he will definitely play reverse sweep, so bowl a googly)â the 32-year-old said.Â
The 32-year-old, who is four shy off reaching 200 wickets in first-class cricket, also noted that every player, regardless of whether theyâre a part of the playing XI, can learn a lot from Dhoni. The leg-spinner added that the Jharkhand manâs ability to deal with crunch situations with utter calmness sets him apart from the rest.
âIn fact, there is a lot to learn from Dhoni, whether you are a part of the XI or not. Most importantly, he remains cool and calm in crunch situations and doesnât let the pressure mount on himself as well as the team.
"I feel a team is dependent a lot on its captain because if he is under pressure, then it creates some doubt in the side. But that isnât the case when Dhoni is around. He takes on challenges and deals with tough situations.â
