“He led from the front every time”: Rohit Sharma praises Virat Kohli after replacing him as Team India ODI captain

Rohit Sharma praises Virat Kohli and his legacy as India’s White ball captain post replacing him as the Indian team captain in ODI format.

The supposed ouster of Virat Kohli as Team India’s ODI captain has opened the floodgates for discussions and debates around the BCCI’s decision on the matter.

While a huge section of fans and some experts have been rallying behind Rohit Sharma as Team India’s skipper in the White format altogether, the manner in which he was alleviated to the post or rather Kohli was removed as the ODI skipper raised quite a many eyebrows.

The BCCI, in its press release merely mentioned the fact that Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the team’s new ODI skipper, without citing the reason(s) for Kohli’s removal from the post, or an official statement from Kohli himself on the same.

Not until after almost 24 hours of all the confusion and drama, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly did finally shed light on the reason for the move, and why he (and the BCCI) felt India could not go on with two captains in the limited Overs format. There is still not a word from Kohli yet.

However, Rohit Sharma, all set to tour South Africa as skipper of the ODI format, did speak on his predecessor over what he has brought to the table over the years as captain of the Indian Cricket team in all formats of the game.

Rohit Sharma praises Virat Kohli and his legacy as India’s White ball captain

During an interview with the BCCI post being appointed as team India’s new White ball captain, Rohit Sharma shed light on the legacy of the invaluable 5 years of Virat Kohli as team India’s captain in the 50-Over format.

In addition to his ‘grit and determination to win every game’- the message which Kohli has sent to the entire team all these years, Rohit exclaimed he enjoyed each and every moment he played with him and would continue to do so in the future.

“He’s put the team in a situation where there is no looking back. Those five years that he has led the team, he has led from the front every time. There was clear grit and determination to win every game; that was the message to the entire squad and we had a great time playing under him. I have played a lot of Cricket with him and have enjoyed each and every moment, and will continue to do that,” exclaimed Rohit Sharma.

Rohit also remarked on the ICC trophy drought team India has had since 2013, when they has last won a major ICC trophy- the ICC Champions Trophy under then skipper MS Dhoni.

He opined that winning championships is imperative but there is a process that the team needs to follow as a group. The message he would like to give to the boys as the skipper would be to tick the small boxes initially, and then focus on the end result.

Team India is set to tour South Africa for a 3-match Test series starting with the Boxing Day Test at Centurion followed by an equal number of ODIs beginning January 19, 2022.