“He's led by example both on and off the field” - Rahul Dravid hails Team India captain Rohit Sharma
Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has showered praises on skipper Rohit Sharma for his fantastic leadership in the ongoing 2023 World Cup. According to Dravid, Rohit has led by example both on and off the field and also acknowledged that his aggressive starts have made life easier for the batters to follow.
India have had an exceptional run in the 2023 World Cup so far. They have played eight and won eight - the only team in the competition to have not lost a single match so far. Rohit has been integral to the team’s success, getting the team off to blazing starts. In eight innings, he has scored 443 runs at a strike rate of 122.
At a press conference ahead of India’s last league match against the Netherlands on Sunday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Dravid shared his thoughts on Rohit’s performance as a leader.
"Rohit has certainly been a leader. I think he's led by example both on and off the field. There have been some games where it could have been tricky for us, but the fact that he's been able to get us to those kinds of starts has literally cracked open the game," he said.
"It's actually has made it look easy for us and certainly made it easier for the guys who followed in that (batting) department," Dravid admitted.
Rohit began his World Cup campaign with a duck against Australia. He followed it up with a hundred against Afghanistan and a half-century against Pakistan. Barring the game against Sri Lanka, he has got India off to solid starts in India’s recent games, setting the tone of the innings.
“It's been terrific to see the way Rohit's done that” - Dravid on captain leading by example
Dravid admitted that India were keen on adapting a particular template in the World Cup and praised Rohit for leading the way. According to the Indian legend, the captain’s performances have had a significant impact in the dressing room.
"We've talked about playing in a particular way. You cannot do that unless your leader buys in and shows by example. It's been terrific to see the way Rohit's done that. I think his captaincy has been fantastic. He's someone who’s certainly got the respect of the group and the coaching staff,” Dravid added.
Apart from Rohit, Virat Kohli has also been highly impressive, scoring 543 runs in eight innings at an average of 108.60 and a strike rate of 88.29.