‘It’s Draining’ – Rohit Sharma On Leading Team India

Rohit Sharma assumed captaincy of the Indian team in 2021, succeeding Virat Kohli who resigned from his position as the T20I captain following India’s lacklustre performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Australia.

When Kohli stepped down as captain in ODIs and Tests, Rohit Sharma was handed the reins for all formats of the Indian cricket team. His recent leadership stint was during the 2023 ODI World Cup, which took place in India.

Under his leadership, Team India reached the final of the tournament by winning all the league stage games and remaining unbeaten. However, the loss in the final against Australia extended their long ICC trophy drought once again.

Rohit Sharma, in a recent conversation with Dinesh Karthik, has opened up about the challenges of leading the team. Here’s what the 36-year-old said:

“It is quite draining, but that is what you sign up for. When you take the responsibility, I think when the opportunity came to me to lead the team, I was excited. In the last 7-8 years, I’ve been part of that core group decision-making, vice-captain.”

“I led in Virat’s absence a few times when he was not there, but yeah, obviously it’s a huge honour to be captaining your country. You know, I have seen many greats who have captained the team stalwarts in their way, so to be alongside them, you know, it’s a great honour. Great privilege.”

Upon becoming the full-time captain of the Indian team, Rohit asserted that his decision was clear from the start. According to the Hitman, ‘numbers are overrated,’ using his own example to drive home the point.

“I wanted to bring a certain change. Players going out there and playing with a lot of freedom, that statistical side of cricket. I want to completely take it out of this team.”

“People are not looking at numbers. People are not looking at their personal scores and just play the game. Numbers are overrated. In India, we do talk a lot about numbers and all of that. But like, yeah, I got five hundreds in 2019 World Cup but kya hua uska, haar gaye na(but what happened, we still lost)?”