Man management is the most important part of captaincy. Those who have the ability often succeed as leaders in cricket. MS Dhoni has mastered this skill. Anyone can get the best out of Jasprit Bumrah or Virat Kohli, but it is maximising the skills of players who aren’t the most talented that has earned him accolades for Team India and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
How Rohit Sharma, the captain, operates
According to Khaleel Ahmed, Rohit Sharma ranks right up there in this aspect. He instills players with confidence and backs them to the hilt, which brings out their best. For this reason, Khaleel feels Rohit should keep playing for India—not just until the ODI World Cup 2027, but for the next decade.
“I feel Rohit Sharma should play for the next 10 years for the good of Indian cricket, and that’s my personal feeling,” Khaleel told RevSportz.
The left-arm pacer feels so strongly about Rohit for a reason. He recalled an incident in 2019. While playing against Bangladesh in Rajkot, Khaleel went at 11 runs per over. No other batter even went at 9. He was India’s worst bowler of the day. Yes, India won, but he wasn’t happy with his performance.
Rohit knew Khaleel was down. So, he approached. The pacer shared how he stayed back just to have a conversation with him and told him that Khaleel doesn’t know the true extent of his abilities. Rohit believed in him when for a moment, Khaleel didn’t himself.
“When in 2019, we were playing a series against Bangladesh in Rajkot, once I didn’t have a great day and only got one wicket, so he came to me and spoke to me personally in the dressing room. The team was leaving the stadium, and he stayed back to have a one-on-one with me and told me how I should be. He told me that I am unaware of my own capabilities.
“When we were getting out of the stadium, all the fans were screaming for Rohit bhai, and he told me that ‘all of this should happen for you too’ and that I should wish that for myself and stay positive,” Khaleel added.
There for the bad times
The pacer says that even Rishabh Pant has performed so well under Rohit because he instills them with the same confidence and belief. Khaleel hopes everyone gets a captain like him, not because he’s there when you do well, but because Rohit’s the first match there when you don’t.
“A captain like him, talking to me like that after the match, made me wonder how kind a person he was. I’ve seen him do the same thing with Rishabh (Pant). ‘What a man! What a captain!’ I would say. People don’t even look at you when you have a bad match, but as a captain, he is something else,” the pacer added.
Khaleel added that they met recently at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He was playing in the Duleep Trophy while Rohit was there for his fitness test. And told him to continue to keep himself fit so that he can play for a long time.
“Recently, I met him at the NCA (Centre of Excellence) during the Duleep Trophy, and he looked very fit, so I asked him to stay like that and keep playing. I have hardly seen such a captain and person in my life; he is a gem, and I have a lot of respect and love for him. It’s not possible to express everything in this short interview,” Khaleed concluded.
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