‘He has evolved and blossomed’: Laxman explains reasons for Rohit Sharma’s success as IPL captain
The 33-year-old led Mumbai Indians to four title wins, one ahead of Chennai Super Kings’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni, making him currently the most successful skipper in the history of IPL
Former India cricketer VVS Laxman believes that Rohit Sharma’s ability to remain calm under pressure has helped him lead Mumbai Indians to four Indian Premier League titles. While Rohit is known for his immense talent with the bat, having already scored three double hundreds in the ODIs, he has also garnered reputation as a skilful leader, being the most successful IPL captain at the moment.
Speaking in the latest episode of Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected, Laxman went on to talk about the reasons for Rohit’s success as captain. “He became a leader in the Deccan Chargers team. When he came in the first year, he was a youngster who just played the T20 World Cup, made his international debut for India,” Laxman said.
“I think the way he was batting in the middle order, under pressure because the team didn’t do well in the inaugural IPL edition in 2008 ... Rohit was a standout performer for us,” he added.
In the IPL, Rohit is third in the list of players with most runs, with 4,898 runs in 188 matches at an average of 31.60. His highest IPL score is 109 not out.
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“In each and every match, with each and every success, his confidence level was just growing, he was getting into the core group, helping the youngsters, voicing his opinion and those were early signs,” Laxman said.
“But for me, most importantly was handling the pressure because not once in those tough situations when he was batting did it show, and he has evolved and blossomed. That’s why he’s one of the most successful captains in IPL history,” the former batsman added.
(With PTI inputs)