I had sensed Rohit's leadership qualities right from the school days, reveals Dinesh Lad
Rohit Sharma has been making all the right noises with his captaincy in IPL and according to his childhood coach Dinesh Lad, he could sense his protege's leadership qualities from the school days. He added that Rohit is someone who always thinks about winning and losing ain't an option.
With Rohit Sharma leading Mumbai Indians to a record fifth IPL title win, the demand to elevate him to limited-overs captaincy over Virat Kohli is getting louder than ever before. Rohit has been successfully leading his franchise and that shows in the fact that every since he overtook their reign in 2013, they have won five titles in eight years, which is a staggering achievement, and makes him even better than MS Dhoni in the league's history that too by a country mile. Rohit's mantra lies in backing his players to the hilt, playing the match-up game to perfection and unleashing top-notch tactics in pressure situations. Â
As per his childhood coach, Dinesh Lad, Rohit Sharma has proved himself and has never buckled under the pressure of leading Mumbai Indians instead he has made it a plus point in his career. He also revealed that for Rohit, losing is never an option.
"He always thought of winning and never thought about losing. When he was given the responsibility to lead Mumbai Indians, he proved his qualities and that became a plus point in his career. His responsibility increased and not the pressure," Dinesh Lad told PTI.
Dinesh Lad also stated that one could sense his captaincy skills right from the school days when he would win his side games single-handedly. He also recalled how he once helped his side win a game from a very difficult situation while opening the batting with the team collapsing in a tricky chase but he won his side the game.
"I had sensed his leadership qualities right from the school days. I remember the time in school cricket, when I had asked him to lead the team, he used to single handedly win games.
"On one instance, the team was 30-40 for five or six and he had opened the innings in pursuit of 220-230. "I was nervous and thought that we had lost the game. I conveyed a message to him to take the match till the end, he replied saying 'I will ensure that we win the game' and we eventually won it," he added.
Rohit Sharma's coach also feels that he will do a good job as a captain as we have seen before in tournaments like Nidahas trophy, however, he said that only selectors can decide whether he should take over the captaincy from Kohli or not. He also highlighted that Virat is aggressive while Rohit leads with a cool head.
"I cannot say anything on it. It is up to the BCCI and the selectors. If Rohit is given a chance to lead then he will do good as seen in the past when he has captained India in few tournaments like Nidahas trophy, where we have emerged champions.
"I can't say Rohit should be made the captain. But if he is given (the opportunity), then he also can also prove something. Virat is more aggressive while Rohit is calm and composed. He leads with a cool head," said Lad.