IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians teammates hail Rohit Sharma on completion of 10 years of MI captaincy
IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma is into his tenth season as the Mumbai Indians skipper. As he completed the feat on Monday, his MI teammates have recalled how he has grown as a leader and even hailed him for success.
FollowMonday (April 24) was memorable, both for India and former record five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champion Mumbai Indians (MI). The day witnessed the legendary former Indian Master Blaster and MI legend Sachin Tendulkar turning 50 and the tenth anniversary of Rohit Sharma captaining MI for the first time. As the MI returns to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to take on former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday, Rohit’s teammates and coaching staff spoke about captain Hitman’s decade at the helm.
Kieron Pollard, MI’s new batting coach and one of the legendary players in the MI setup when Rohit took over the leadership role in the middle of the season in 2013, enunciated, “He’s grown as a leader. I mean, he’s grown into leadership. It was entrusted to him in 2013 in the middle of a season. He was still pretty young then.”
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Despite being young when he first took charge, Pollard said Rohit was a snappy learner and always exhibited leadership prospects. “That shows you that a person has a great insight into what he can accomplish, and we are lucky to have him as a leader. He has a wealth of experience, so it’s a matter of tapping into that and continuing to see him grow.”
Terming Rohit’s career as “incredible” so far, bowling coach Shane Bond underlined Rohit’s impact as a character. “He’s such a big personality around our group, on and off the field and particularly in leading this team to where we are now. He has done a brilliant job.”
Suryakumar Yadav stated that Rohit’s numbers speak for himself, especially as a skipper, and his MI journey has been an outlandish story. “Here we are in his 10th year as captain. So, ten years as captain for a franchise like Mumbai Indians. I think it is a very, very big achievement. It’s a story in itself. He’s brought so much glory for the franchise, winning five trophies under his captaincy.”
Ishan Kishan spotlighted Rohit’s gift to the team as the leader, “Winning 5 Championship as Captain is a great achievement. I know how he is as a captain. He’s done so much for the team.”
Also, Australian all-rounder Cameron Green credited Rohit as a critical factor in the team’s inheritance, declaring, “The success that Mumbai have had, a lot of that is to do with him.”
Fielding coach James Pamment feels Rohit’s manner of dealing with youngsters and how he conducted himself in the team’s backdrop makes him an eminent captain. “A great strength is that he encourages the young Indian players very well. Captains know how to pull the strings, which Rohit has done extremely well, from being a very young captain when he first won the championship to maturing. In a big competition like this, he’s got a nice manner about him,” Pamment concluded.
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