‘He's right…’ Former India cricketer throws his weight behind Rohit Sharma’s style of leadership

Former India pacer Praveen Kumar has extended his support to Rohit Sharma and the way he directed his players during the recently-concluded Test series against England. Rohit’s admonishment, captured on stump mic, was directed at players who were loitering around on the field.

During the second Test in Visakhapatnam, Rohit in his own style, told his fielders, “Koi bhi garden ghoomta nhi dikhna chahiye, nhi to mai (no one should be seen roaming around as if they are in a garden).”

Kumar has now said that such a statement was necessary since the captain demands proper commitment from the players.

Following India’s Test series win against England, skipper Rohit shared an Instagram post that had several young players in it. The bright sparks from the series included Dhruv Jurel, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sarfaraz Khan.

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In the caption, the captain playfully referred to them as "Garden me ghoomne wale bande.”

Kumar spoke about this and said that several young cricketers are not taking international cricket seriously owing to the influence of T20 leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL). He also spoke about how Rohit has kept himself motivated and has found consistent form at this stage of his career.

"The careers of some players end at 30, and for others like Rohit, it begins. Rohit has that self-confidence, self-belief. And the way he is captaining; we heard him say 'jo koi bhi garden mein ghoomega…' he is absolutely right. Some players are not giving importance to playing for the country. So yeah, he is spot on in scolding them,” Kumar said on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel.

Kumar also praised Rohit’s batting prowess, and spoke about his performance at the World Cup where he aggressively got off the blocks and gave India blazing starts.

"He has so much confidence right now, the way Rohit is batting — especially in the World Cup — he has shown what he is capable of. He may or may not score a hundred but he wanted to score 80 off 40 balls. It's rare and amazing at the same time for Indian cricket that a player after 30 is doing all these incredible things. It will change that thinking that players need to be sidelined once they are 32-3,” he added.

After suffering a defeat in the opening contest, the Indian cricket team bounced back to win four Tests on the trot to seal the series 4-1.