New Delhi [India] : Former Indian cricketer Amol Muzumdar stated that India captain Rohit Sharma handled the World Cup 2011 snub with grace and turned his career around.
The 36-year-old Rohit is currently leading India in the World Cup 2023 and has already guided Men in Blue to victories over Australia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
“See, Rohit Sharma played for India in 2007. He played in the world T20, won the championship, and then transitioned into the One-day squad. But when he was not picked in the squad for the 2011 World Cup, he was very upset. As you mentioned, even I’m aware he moved back from Bandra to Borivali. And he also hired a fitness trainer, and that fitness trainer stayed at his house for 2-3 months. He concentrated a lot on his fitness and made his comeback from there on, and he’s not looked back since,” Mazumdar said on Star Sports show, “Follow the Blues”.
Muzumdar, a star of India’s domestic circuit, praised Rohit for displaying maturity and gaining in stature as a cricketer.
Speaking on how the 2011 World Cup omission affected Rohit, Mazumdar said, “According to me, when he wasn’t selected in that 2011 World Cup where the team happened to go and win the tournament, that really upset him. After that, he’s just been excellent. When he got the captaincy (in IPL) later, it added responsibility on his shoulders, and he really matured. And he’s never looked back after that. That was one setback which he took positively and turned it around for himself.”
Muzumdar also praised Rohit for not complicating things for himself or the team he plays for. He also complimented Rohit’s relaxed culture in his team, adding that the Indian skipper emphasises simplicity in conception and execution, promoting a tranquil team environment.
“I want to highlight 3 things about his captaincy. The first one is, Rohit gives a lot of weightage and importance to data and statistics. This includes one of the most important parts of his planning; he believes that it is very important to know each and every minute detail and statistics of all the opposition players. The second one is, he keeps things very simple and try to make his team members to think simply,” he added.
Muzumdar shed light on three key characteristics of Rohit’s attitude as a captain while analysing his approach.
“He keeps everyone in the team in a very cool and calm atmosphere. His style of captaincy is a bit different from others; he talks very politely and in a very lovable way with his players, thus keeping things in a very easy and simple manner. And, the third one, which is the most important point is that he has that magical touch in him. Whatever changes he makes, that comes out like a magical touch, like for example Mumbai Indians got that magical touch in their team after Rohit Sharma became their captain. He also has five IPL titles in his name. I hope 2023 will take his magical touch,” Muzumdar added.
