Rohit Sharma & The Heart of Captaincy: Talk, listen and never lose sense of humour
Lack of intensity on the field, was one observation that the pundits made after India, under captain Rohit Sharma, lost the first Test of this England series in Hyderabad. They would connect it to the absence of Virat Kohli, world cricket’s mega star known to wind up rivals and coax the crowd to cheer the team when chips are down. That was in the the last week of January.
Over the next five weeks, during the course of the next 4 Tests, the Indian team’s chatter, recorded diligently by stump microphones, would go viral on social media. Those who have closely followed the intensely-fought series now see Rohit as a highly communicative leader and say that the buzz he creates on the field is the reason for India’s stunning comeback in the series.
In cricket, a sport with a format that goes on for five days, captains and communication is an interesting study. Though, the length or frequency of conversation a captain has with his players doesn’t decide his leadership caliber. Do talkers make better leaders than non-talkers? Long team meetings or short individual interactions? There are no straight absolute answers to these questions. Whatever works – is the only mantra that captains can follow.
There’s the famous Virender Sehwag story from his stint as the Delhi Daredevils captain. During a tight game, before the final over, his main pacer Umesh Yadav asked his skipper where he should bowl. “Bowler tu hai ya main?” Sehwag said with a smile. That day Umesh grew as a bowler.
Rajkot: India’s captain Rohit Sharma celebrates his century on the first day of the third cricket test match between India and England, at Niranjan Shah Stadium, in Rajkot, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)
In contrast, captains like MS Dhoni and Rohit are known to micro-manage all on-field operations. Dhoni famously would guide spinners before every ball. “Jaddu, leg pe daal sakta hai”, “Rokega aankh band karke”, “Dhire daal le” – from behind the stumps, there would be a constant smattering of instructions.
In this series, Rohit has had to be in the ears of his younger batting partners constantly. Several times Yashasvi Jaiswal, the series’ highest run-getter and his opening partner, would play a risky shot – an ambitious sweep or slog towards the corner. This would be followed by Rohit walking down the track fuming. He would blow his top, use words suited to a Sunday street game to convey his disapproval.
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Once in an interview, Mumbai Indians player Ishan Kishan spoke about his early days while playing under Rohit. Not aware that the team was trying to maintain the ball so that one side remained shiny and the other dry and rough, Kishan threw the ball at one-bounce. Rohit would give him a tongue lashing. But after the game, Rohit would convey to the newcomer that things are said on the field in the heat of the moment and what happens on the field, stays there. This was an approach that worked, Mumbai Indians would win 5 IPL titles under Rohit.
The great Imran Khan too was known for his colourful on-field and dressing room “hair-dryer” treatment. On the field, he would use choicest words to both pull up a player or motivate him to have a go at the rivals. But till date, his team mates see him as a larger than life figure who groomed them and made them better players.
The world knows Imran for the talented prodigies around him but less is spoken about the seniors who were his sounding boards. There was Javed Miandad who Imran would constantly consult when the team was in trouble. Before the Test, he would take inputs from Mudassar Nazar on how the pitch would play. They would be his key ministers, they would be his brain bank, Imran kept them in conversations, valued their point of view.
Before the Dharamsala Test, Rohit, touched upon the conversations he had with two of his senior spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin – when things got tough on the field. There is also the thinking mind of Jasprit Bumrah to tap into. “Suddenly sometimes you have to change on the field looking at how things are moving, I am glad that I got a lot of these guys who understand,” he said.
India captain Rohit Sharma lauded Sarfaraz Khan after he struck multiple fifties on Test debut against England. (PTI)
Among Rohit’s popular on-field conversations on social media is one about umpire Virender Sharma during the T20 series against Afghanistan. It showed the confidence of a proven leader who isn’t insecure. That T20 game was after Rohit was dismissed for a duck in the earlier two matches. At the start of the innings in the third game, a ball after deviation went past fine leg. To Rohit’s surprise, the umpire signalled leg-bye. “Arey Viru, thigh-pad diya kya pehla four? Bat laga tha! (Hey Viru, did you signal for the thigh pad on the first four? I hit that with my bat!),” he said. He was ready to laugh about his zeroes and even about his plea to the umpire.
It brings to mind a famous conversation cricket’s sharpest brain, the great Mike Brearley, had with his trump card Ian Botham. In the forward of his famous book – Art of captaincy – former England player Ed Smith mentions the episode and also interprets it.
Smith writes: “Passing Ian Botham at the nets, Mike famously joked. “Want to get your confidence up, Ian?” – the implication being that Mike’s batting would make Botham’s bowling look good. Only an established leader would find it so easy to play himself down.
There is a larger message in Rohit’s viral chatter. It shows him as an established leader, who isn’t insecure. It also shows that he has time for his juniors, ears for the seniors in the team and has a sense of humour.
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