Rohit Sharma banking on captaincy experience in IPL ahead of Sri Lanka series

The stand-in captain of India for the ODI series against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma, feels the basics of captaincy remain same in both IPL and ODIs. The three-match series is all set to commence on December 10 in Dharamsala at HPCA Cricket Stadium. There will be pressure on Rohit as he will mark his captaincy debut at the international level and would love to start on a winning note. However, he believed that the mindset of the players would be completely different as compared to IPL and he will have to adjust accordingly.

The Mumbai cricketer has won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title twice so far during his captaincy stint for his franchise Mumbai Indians. He has led the side admirably well and his fans would be expecting that he does well at the highest level too. Along with the leadership skills, Rohit Sharma will have to make sure that he leads from the front with the bat much like Virat Kohli and set an example.

I don’t need to change anything

Rohit Sharma faced the plethora of questions ahead of his captaincy debut against Sri Lanka on Sunday in Dharamsala. Though he opined that the basics of the captaincy would remain same for him. “It will be completely a different ball game altogether but the process and basics of captaincy will remain the same. We have a different set of players than the IPL team but having played with these guys for some time now, I do understand their strengths and weaknesses. It will be all about going there and executing and making everyone comfortable,” he told reporters.

“I don’t need to change anything. I just need to carry from where we left as a team and yes IPL and international cricket is completely different — the pressure and mindset of the players is absolutely different. I myself will not change much. I will try to be at the present and make those changes when necessary,” the stand-in skipper continued. He also went on to say that they will be put under pressure by Sri Lanka in the series and is keen to have a look at the youngsters who will respond to such situations.

“We will be put to different situations and it will be important how we react to those. In Sri Lanka, we were put under pressure in few situations and we came out it really well, we showed a lot of character. Here at times, we will be put under pressure and we have guys to stand up and respond to those situation. We are not thinking that we have beat them in the last series, we have to focus from first ball to the last,” Rohit concluded.