Jonty Rhodes, who has seen Rohit Sharma grow into a giant of world cricket but as batter and captain, said the “naughty” side of the opener was always there.
There’s a side to India captain Rohit Sharma that has become increasingly popular in the last few years. Rohit was always one of those cricketers who never missed an opportunity for banter with his teammates and even with reporters during press conferences. Of late, more so after he took over as India’s captain, that aspect of his has been caught multiple times on stump microphones during India’s matches.
Whether it was a polite “Koi bhi garden mein ghumega toh…” threat to youngsters lacking the intensity during the Vizag Test earlier this year to his bewilderment at umpire Virender Sharma giving leg byes to a ball that had come off his bat in a T20I against Afghanistan, he Rohit has often given viral-worthy content on stump mics.
Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes, who has seen Rohit grow into a giant of world cricket but as batter and captain, said the “naughty” side of the opener was always there. The way that he interacts with his teammates, he’s quite a character. He’s quite a naughty boy, almost. He says a few things on the stump mic and you go ‘Oh! Do you know people are listening, Ro?‘ I don’t understand all of it but it’s always broadcast and translated for us,” Rhodes said in an interview with Rev Sports.
Maintaining a great rapport with the youngsters of the team has been one of the USPs of Rohit’s captaincy. Rhodes said his big-brother-like attitude deserves credit for this. “From a captaincy point of view, he has been superb. I was with him at MI for a quite few seasons. He grew as a captain there and that’s the best thing about him,” added the legendary cricketer who revolutionized fielding during his playing days.
Rhodes hails Rohit’s attacking approach
The current fielding coach of the Lucknow Super Giants said he was not surprised by the way Rohit has changed his game in white-ball cricket to stay relevant. Rhodes said Rohit did not want opposition teams to figure out his methods.
“Cricketers have to keep reinventing themselves. You are found out easily at the international level. I was dropped for two years from Test cricket because I had a technical issue. If you look at Rohit, so much cricket has been played that if you don’t evolve, you are going to be stuck. People are going to figure you out,” he added.
Rohit is 37 currently but Rhodes said if the Indian captain continues to bat the with the same attitude then his best could be in front of him, at least in the shortest format. “What you see now, if you finish your international career, doesn’t mean your career is over. There’s still a lot of opportunities. We’ve seen so many guys carry on and play at the IPL. Form the perspective, I think he’s got some of the best years ahead of him.”
