Rohit Sharma is receiving plenty of accolades for his captaincy and for the way he kept things together and extracted the best out of his players in the Asia Cup campaign. The right-hander looked in control of things even when his team's backs were against the wall and coach Ravi Shastri took note of the attribute.
However, Rohit himself has confessed that he observed MS Dhoni and learnt to be calm from his former captain.
'Dhoni is always ready with advice'
"Whatever I have seen of him (Dhoni) leading the side for all these years, he never panicked, took time while taking decisions. There are those similarities in me too," skipper Rohit told media persons after the match.
"I also try to first think and then react. Yes, 50-over cricket gives you time but still you need to take time as well. I have learnt this from seeing him, we have played for so many years under his captaincy. Whenever there is something, he is ready with advice," Rohit further added.
Despite not setting the stage on fire with the bat in Asia Cup, Dhoni was an instrumental presence and his smart glovework and tactical nous were needed by the team and Rohit has accepted it.
"We always keep on learning from Dhoni bhai because he has been such a great captain. Whenever there were questions or doubts on the field, he was always there to answer," Rohit said.
Indian coach Ravi Shastri was impressed with the way Rohit handled things when the pressure was on the team and the way he shuffled his bowlers and tweaked around with the field.
"Rohit was a calming influence and it showed in his captaincy. To keep his intensity going even after the start they (Bangladesh) had, showed he was really cool in every aspect of captaincy," Shastri said minuted after India defended their title.
With the selectors wary of Kohli's ever-increasing workload, Rohit's performance as a leader and as a batsman would have gladdened the hearts of the team management and going forward it would be interesting to see if there are bigger roles for the Mumbai man.
