Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan heaped massive praise on India captain Rohit Sharma and highlighted his calm demeanor.
Irfan Pathan Praises Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma’s on Saturday showcased an array of shots, nullifying Sri Lanka’s spin attack in the ongoing Pink Test in Bengaluru. The Indian skipper batted confident and picked the deliveries pretty well. He stitched a 42-run stand with opening partner Mayank Agarwal, who eventually got out for 22.
Rohit looked unfazed with the dismissal of Mayank as he continued toying with the Lankan bowlers. He scored 46 off 79 deliveries before losing his wicket to Dhananjaya de Silva in the 30th over.
The 34-year-old began his Test captaincy stint last week with a clinical win over Sri Lanka in Mohali.
Speaking with Star Sports, Irfan opined that Rohit elevated his career following the 2011 World Cup snub.
“Every player goes through that phase in his career when he isn’t able to perform and only left with disappointment. The current team has two such players: Jadeja and Rohit. Jadeja hasn’t looked back since the 2017 Champions Trophy final… and Rohit has changed a lot since the 2011 World Cup snub. There used to be a lot of talk about his talent. But he himself would say that he was much more than just talent.
“He worked hard on his skill-set and the best opportunity came in the 2013 Champions Trophy. He was given the role of opening the innings and that took Rohit’s career to another level. His performance was a notch above and that improved his consistency as well. We talk about Dhoni being Mr. Cool but Rohit is cool as a cucumber,” Irfan told Star Sports.
“He was also appointed Mumbai Indians skipper midway through the season. He replaced Ricky Ponting and completely changed the Mumbai franchise. Mumbai does a lot of meetings and being involved in the process in detail is a tough task. One should learn from Rohit how to lift the side on his shoulders and be involved in his team’s growth,” he further said.
In the 2 match Test series, India leads the series with a victory in the first match. In the second Test match, India scored 252 runs in 1st innings and 303(d) runs in the second innings. With an aggressive bowling attack, India ended the Sri Lankans’ 1st innings for 109 runs and at the end of day 2, Sri Lanka scored 28 runs for 1 wicket. SL still needs 419 runs to equal the series.
