"His handling of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill has stood out" - Anil Kumble hails skipper Rohit Sharma
Former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble has hailed Rohit Sharma's leadership in Test cricket. Praising the latter, Kumble acknowledged that the captain has been blessed with match-winners, but added that Rohit has been adept at handling youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.
India beat Bangladesh 2-0 recently in a Test series at home. Their three-match series against New Zealand was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, October 16 in Bengaluru. However, Day 1 of the Test match was completely washed out due to persistent rain.
Speaking to JioCinema ahead of the India vs New Zealand series, Kumble praised Rohit's performance as Test captain, while elaborating on various aspects of his leadership. He said:
"Tactically, he has been brilliant in terms of being proactive in a Test match with the kind of resources that he has. He has been blessed to have that kind of resources with two world-class spinners and Bumrah."
"But to marshall all of that and then navigate the younger lot, I think he has been brilliant. Someone like a Yashasvi Jaiswal under Rohit's captaincy in his role as an opening batter, you see what he has shown with the kind of approach that he has had," he added.
"Shubman Gill, of course, has had to move from opening to number three, which he has again done comfortably well here. KL Rahul has been moved up and down. That has again sat really well. It is great to have Rishabh Pant back and Virat (Kohli), you know, at number four has done brilliantly under Rohit as well," the 53-year-old concluded.
While Rohit has done a good job as captain, he has struggled with the willow lately in Test matches. The opening batter registered scores of 6, 5, 23, and 8 in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
Rohit Sharma's record as Test captain
As skipper, Rohit has led India in 18 Test matches of which they have won 12 and lost four, while two other games have ended in a draw. The 37-year-old has a win percentage of 66.66 as skipper in Test matches.
Under him, the side reached the final of the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC), going down to Australia in the summit clash.
Overall, the Indian captain has featured in 61 Test matches, scoring 4,179 runs at an average of 43.98, with 12 hundreds and 17 fifties.