Rohit Shama has probably been the most selfless Indian cricketer I have seen in a long, long time: Simon Doull

After a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Australia in the finals of the ODI World Cup 2023, the senior cricketers in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and a couple of other cricketers took a break from international cricket. All three are set to make their return in the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa, starting December 26. Ahead of the first on-field appearance post-World Cup heartache, former New Zealand international Simon Doull lauded the 36-year-old for playing some brilliant cricket without thinking about milestones in recent times.

Rohit’s selfless approach with the bat set the tone for India in the recently concluded World Cup. Doull wants the opener to play the same brand of cricket in the Test series as it will give the visiting team a good start in South Africa, where they have never won a red-ball series. Doull also called Rohit the ‘most selfless Indian cricketer’ he has seen in a long time and added that he has done everything in his power to help his team win.

“It will be about tempering his game a little bit. The one thing I have observed about Rohit Sharma in the last 10-18 months is that he has probably been the most selfless Indian cricketer I have seen in a long, long time. He has done everything he possibly could for his team to win. He made this team, he played in a certain way to allow the others in the team to be able to play the way they play, in white-ball cricket in particular,” Doull told Star Sports.

“In the World Cup, we saw that he set the tone at the top of the order, which allowed the middle order to play the way they played. So, it's a slight change for him, not too much. I still want him to be that aggressive Rohit Sharma. We do see it in Test matches,” he added.

Meanwhile, India have already started their practice for the Test series. The team is currently playing an intrasquad match, in which Sarfaraz Khan has managed to hit a century. The cricketer is currently out of the national squad but the ton might bring him back to the scheme of things.