Rohit Sharma-led India beat England by five wickets on Day 4 of the fourth and penultimate Test to clinch the five-match series 3-1 with a game to spare. After India’s triumph over Ben Stokes-led England, former Indian all-rounder Suresh Raina heaped praise on captain Rohit. Raina lauded Rohit’s leadership and made a big claim, saying Hitman is ‘the next MS Dhoni’.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!‘He is giving chances to youngsters the way MS Dhoni did’
Speaking to TOI, Raina said that Rohit has been giving lot of chances to youngsters, just like Dhoni, and has handled the team well in pressure situations. “He is the next MS Dhoni. He has done well. He has been giving a lot of chances to youngsters the way MS Dhoni did. I played a lot of cricket under MS Dhoni. Sourav Ganguly supported his team a lot. Then MS Dhoni came and led from the front. Rohit is going in the right direction. He is a brilliant captain,” opined Raina.
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He further stated, “I want to give credit to Rohit Sharma. He first gave Sarfaraz the chance and then made Jurel part of the team.”
‘Rohit has been handling the pressure and players really well’
Raina added, “Rohit has been amazing with his planning. He has been giving a lot of chances to the youngsters. The way he is rotating the players is something I have never seen in the last couple of years. Whenever the fast bowlers came in the last couple of years, we have seen injuries. But Rohit has been managing that really well. Being a captain is not easy, especially when you are playing in India. Earlier, we used to have one fast bowler and 3-4 spinners. Now, he is bringing two fast bowlers. He brought in Siraj and Bumrah. He sent Bumrah back and managed his workload well and then handed debut to Akash Deep. Rohit has been handling the pressure and players really well.”
India’s series triumph over England came on the back of several top performances from young players such as Yashasvi Jaiswal (with over 600 runs in the ongoing series), Shubman Gill (having scores of 104, 91, 52*), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (Player-of-the-Match in Ranchi for his keeping skills along with a priceless 90 and 39*), Akash Deep, etc.
The likes of Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja have also stepped up but the series win has come courtesy of the younger brigade. Meanwhile, Rohit has also led brilliantly despite missing key players like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.
The fifth and final Test, versus England, kicks off on March 7 in Dharamsala.
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