"Need to have an atmosphere where people can relax, just chill around" - Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has credited head coach Rahul Dravid for bringing in a "sense of relaxation" into the Indian dressing room. The newly-promoted white-ball skipper believes that keeping the team atmosphere light and cheerful where people can sometimes "just chill around" is crucial in a demanding sport like cricket.
Rohit Sharma's remarks came in an interaction with BCCI.tv. He was asked about his experience with Dravid during the duo's first stint as captain and coach in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand. The 33-year-old described it as 'fantastic', saying Dravid epitomizes the balance between playing tough and being relaxed.
He said:
"Working with Rahul bhai, I mean it was only three-odd games but it was fantastic. We have seen how he's played his cricket - very tough, hard. And at the same time, there's a sense of relaxation as well, you know, because it's important to keep the atmosphere light and cheerful when you are doing a job on the field which is so demanding. You need to have an atmosphere where people can relax, just chill around, those kinds of things."
Rohit Sharma hopes their long-shared bond, which has been transformed into a partnership for Indian cricket, is a "fruitful one". He continued:
"It's only been a little while but I have had so many interactions with him in the past about the game, about my personal game so it's good to have him on board. And ya, it'll be a very fruitful one I hope for the future."
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Rohit Sharma took over the T20I captaincy at the same time as Rahul Dravid succeeded Ravi Shastri, kicking off what many term the "new era" of Indian cricket. They have been tasked with improving India's showing in ICC events and by the looks of it, they are applying the philosophies that have worked for them in the past.
We have failed to recover from 10-3, 15-2, it's something we need to keep in mind: Rohit Sharma
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Rohit Sharma also addressed a factor that has had a huge impact on Indian cricket over the past five years, but hasn't been spoken about much by the team. He admitted that the Men in Blue's overdependence on the top order has resulted in failures from situations where the batting lineup is at 10-3 or 15-2.
Rohit Sharma said:
"When the challenges are there and they are tough challenges - how you come out of those is very important. I think in the past, we have been put in those situations before where we've been 10-3, 15-2 something like that and we've failed to recover. That's something we need to keep in mind moving forward. That's one of the areas. There are other areas that we need to keep improving as a team because getting better as a team doesn't stop."
Rohit Sharma concluded by saying:
"We need to keep looking at getting better in different departments. There are so many areas where we can look to improve every time we play the game. So that'll be always in focus... to keep getting better firstly as a player then as a whole group."
The next step in Rohit Sharma's journey is India's tour of South Africa, which will include three Tests and as many ODIs, starting on December 26.
Also Read: "Enjoyed my each and every moment with him" - Rohit Sharma signifies Virat Kohli's legacy