Ashish Ranjan
The all-format captain of India, Rohit Sharma, has come under scrutiny following his team’s demoralizing loss to Australia in the World Test Championship Final last month. Former South African captain and icon Graeme Smith has, however, aided the influential Indian opener.
Rohit Sharma’s batting form has deteriorated significantly over the past year, with the Mumbai Indians captain experiencing consecutive disappointing Indian Premier League campaigns. However, his lack of runs for the Indian team is becoming a concern for the team’s administration.
Former South African captain Graeme Smith, when discussing Rohit’s struggles, suggested that the Indian captain just needs to refresh. Smith, widely regarded as one of the finest Test captains of all time, added that personal form frequently influences captaincy duties as well.
“Personal performance is one of the most difficult challenges of being a captain. The pressure exerted by a leader never ceases. Rohit likely needs to simply refresh. His form has not likely been at a level consistently. He is going through a rough period, but a strong personal performance can often help to smooth things over.
No one criticizes his captaincy or manner of leadership. In an interview with The Times of India, the Proteas legend stated, “On the personal performance side, if he can get some really good scores behind him, it alleviates a lot of the pressure.”
Whenever there is a failure, the senior members always receive the most criticism: Smith
The 42-year-old also cast light on the criticism leveled at a number of senior Indian players following their poor performance in the WTC Final at The Oval. While a change of guard appears imminent, Smith believes it must be a gradual transition, citing the current group of players as the cause for India’s run to the final.
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“Whenever there is a failure, the senior players always bear the brunt of the criticism. If you go back in time (in years), that has always been the case. There must be a plan and a gradual integration for these items. Those athletes also helped you reach the WTC final.
They have consistently performed across the globe for an extended period of time to get India to the final. It is therefore difficult to censure and dismiss them based on a single game, as he concluded.
