Virat Kohli led from the front, we had great time playing under him, states Rohit Sharma

12/13/2021

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India’s newly appointed ODI captain Rohit Sharma heaped praises on Virat Kohli, saying that the latter led the team from the front during his all-format captaincy stint. Rohit also opened up on India’s eight-year ICC title drought, and stressed on following the process to achieve best results.

Rohit Sharma, who’d taken over as India’s T20I captain after the T20 World Cup 2021, was named as the full-time ODI skipper ahead of the team’s upcoming tour of South Africa. The decision stemmed after Virat Kohli had stepped down from T20I captaincy earlier, and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly clarified that the committee opted against having two different captains for white-ball formats.

Kohli had taken over the Test captaincy after MS Dhoni’s retirement from the format during India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15. He was then named as the full-time ODI and T20I captain ahead of the home limited-overs series against England in early 2017, with Dhoni stepping down from the leadership role.

Rohit heaped praises on Kohli, who led India to 65 wins from 95 ODIs and 32 wins from 50 T20Is, lauding his determination to win every game.

"He's put the team in a situation where there is no looking back,” said Rohit in an interview with bcci.tv. “Those five years with the team... he led from the front and there was clear determination to win every game.

“We had a great time playing under him. I have played great cricket under him and have enjoyed every moment, and I'll still continue to do that. We need to keep getting better as a team and as an individual. That will be the focus of the entire squad moving forward.”

Kohli enjoyed great success as captain in bilateral series across formats, but the team failed to lift a major ICC title during his stint. Rohit, who also replaced Ajinkya Rahane as the Test team vice-captain, spoke of the title drought, and laid emphasis on following the process than solely focusing on the end result.

"India will be definitely eying to do well in the upcoming World Cups,” Rohit said. “Our focus will be to win championships but there's a process to be followed. If you want to win championships, there are a lot of other things that you need to take care of, and then focus on the end result.

"The last ICC trophy that we won was in 2013... I don't think we did anything wrong but could not get that extra inch to win the title. That can happen as international cricket is demanding. But as professionals, we need to put the right step forward and make sure that we put all things in the right bag."

India’s upcoming tour of South Africa includes three Tests and as many ODIs, with the first Test set to begin on December 26 in Centurion.