5 Indian legends who back Rohit Sharma as India's captain

In 2013, Mumbai Indians roped in Ricky Ponting, which gave the cricket lovers a godly opportunity to witness Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar bat together, a combination they famously called “Pondulkar”. Ponting was the captain of that Mumbai Indians side but he clearly wasn’t at his fittest best to see through the tournament.

That was when Rohit Sharma made his debut as a captain for the Mumbai Indians and the rest, as they say, is history. He went on to win four IPL titles as captain and also was handed the chance to lead the Indian side on many occasions. He falls in an exclusive category of Indian captains to have won the Asia Cup as well.

He has done a pretty good job as the captain and many experts have heaped praises on his growth. History would perhaps remember this era of Indian cricket as Kohli’s men, but a lot of former cricketers have regularly batted for Rohit to be the captain as well. Here are five former Indian cricketers who backed the Mumbaikar to be a captain for the national side.

1. Gautam Gambhir

One of the finest openers of his time, Gautam Gambhir did a fairly decent job at the top of the order, especially when it mattered the most. As a captain too, he has done a tremendous job in the IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders, winning two titles with them. Gambhir retired last year in Delhi, bringing curtains to a fine career in international and Indian domestic cricket.

Perhaps one of the finest persons to comment on this issue, Gambhir has always backed Rohit Sharma over Virat Kohli. He further went on to say that it’s gentlemen like MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma make Kohli look much better as a captain. Although that sounds like a dig at the Indian skipper, he has tremendous admiration for Kohli but clearly, according to him, Rohit is the first choice captain.

“Captaincy credentials are noticed when you are leading a franchise when you do not have other players supporting you. See what Rohit Sharma has achieved for Mumbai Indians, see what Dhoni has achieved for Chennai Super Kings. If you compare that with RCB, the results are there for everyone to see,” he said as quoted by India Today when asked to compare these two.

2. VVS Laxman

Perhaps one of the finest cricketers to have not captained the side even once, VVS Laxman has been a huge part of the Indian Premier League giants Sunrisers Hyderabad after retiring from the game in 2012. A mastermind who has done a pretty good job in perhaps every auction possible, he knows a thing or two on how the team has to be led.

After Rohit scored a hundred against West Indies in the T20I series, Laxman heaped praises on the batting talent he is. He also went on to say how impressed he is with his captaincy. He complimented the proactive thinking of the Indian vice-captain.

“He is becoming a semi-regular at the job, especially in T20 cricket, and handled his troops admirably. He is proactive on the field and has clear plans, but isn’t afraid to improvise. I have seen very few batsmen combine power and elegance with such nonchalance,” he said in a column he wrote for Times of India last year.

3. Sourav Ganguly

A true legend of the sport and an administrator par excellence, Sourav Ganguly was made the BCCI president a few weeks ago. Having led the Cricket Association of Bengal for so long, it comes as a great achievement for the former Indian captain to take up the biggest job available in world cricket.

Over the years, Ganguly too has been very optimistic about Rohit’s future as an Indian captain. Back in 2016, when he rated him as the best captain of that edition’s IPL despite the Mumbai Indians not making it to the playoffs. In recent days, he has been against the double system captaincy but back in the day, he was definitely a fan of Rohit the captain.

Ganguly also differentiated how Rohit remains calm and composed in difficult situations when compared to other cricketers. Although it is not a point that could segregate cricketers as good or bad, but the point remains pretty valid.

4. Sachin Tendulkar

From one Mumbaikar to the other, perhaps the greatest Mumbaikar of them all, Sachin Tendulkar‘s contribution to Indian cricket cannot be summed up in a few words. One of the few things he couldn’t do as an Indian cricketer was handling the burden of captaincy, but he finds a great captain in Rohit.

Rohit and Sachin spent a great deal of time in the Mumbai Indians camp and no one has seen him work closer than Sachin. After their recent success in the IPL, which was their fourth under Rohit, Sachin spoke about his tremendous growth as a captain and backed him as a great prospect for the captaincy role.

“If you compare him today with what he was when he started, Rohit has become a much better captain. He is a tough character now and has gone through many ups and downs throughout his journey with the Mumbai Indians. His bowling changes too are pretty much spot on,” said Sachin.

5. Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh had a rather diplomatic take when he was asked if Rohit Sharma is better than Virat Kohli and suggested split captaincy. Even that argument makes a lot of sense as the current scenario asks a lot more from the cricketers and sharing the burden wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma have a very cordial relationship and played together in the 2019 IPL for the Mumbai Indians. He always rated the 32-year-old very highly and wants him to take over as the Indian senior captain in one of the formats. He highlighted how successful he has been as a captain thus far.

“Earlier there used to be just two formats — ODIs and Tests, so it was perfect to have one captain. Now there are three formats and if Virat is feeling overloaded, maybe they should try somebody else for the T20 format. Rohit has been a very successful captain,” Yuvraj said in a press conference.