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Rohit Sharma has captained India 128 times. In those 128 matches, India has 95 times giving the Indian team a win percentage of 74.21. Rohit’s attitude on the field while leading the team has been appreciated a lot. He is seen as someone who leads from the front. In limited overs after the semi-final exit in the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 37-year-old changed his batting approach. He has taken a more aggressive route to batting. His high-risk high-reward batting was appreciated a lot by many cricket experts and was one of the biggest reasons for India’s recent success in the ODI and T20 World Cups.
He has been able to live up to his nickname, Hitman. His approach has not changed since he has become the skipper and even in the knockouts he has persisted with the same style. His major achievements with the Indian team include winning Asia Cups, reaching the finals of the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship, winning the T20 World Cup 2024, and winning the five-match test series against England at home.
His friendly attitude towards his players has brought a sense of calm and composure to the team. Like MS Dhoni, Rohit has shown multiple times that he can keep his calm under pressure situations. His calm demeanour has been witnessed while the Indian team is defending small totals. In the 2024 T20 World Cup against arch-rivals, Pakistan, India was defending 119 runs. His bowling changes in that match were brilliant and he could have been tempted to give his best bowler, Jasprit Bumrah the first over he started with Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj who are better suited to new ball.
Players like Siraj, Arshdeep, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and others have been able to find their groove in international cricket under the leadership of Rohit. In spite of only starting their career with the national team, players under Hitman’s leadership have excelled and gained confidence. He has been successful in creating a culture where young players are allowed to play without any fear of failure. For instance, Jaiswal has taken to international cricket in the same way he played in the IPL, India U-19, and other domestic tournaments.
In spite of his many successes in limited-overs cricket, there is still a lot to be achieved in test cricket. Victories away from home have been rare. While the sample size of leading the side in overseas tests is low the record suggests that he needs to improve. In the five tests he has captained overseas there have been two victories, two losses, and one drawn test. One of the two losses came against Australia in the World Test Championship final in 2023. The second loss came in South Africa where even a draw would have been enough to register a historic series win.
Anil Kumble on Rohit's calm approach: “Rohit Sharma’s ability to remain calm and composed on the field, even during intense situations, sets him apart. His clarity of thought and ability to handle players are exceptional.”
Ex-BCCI Selector: "He leads by example and has a unique understanding of the game, which has been crucial in his development as a captain."
In ODIs, Rohit Sharma’s captaincy records have been impressive with a win percentage of 70.83%. The Champions Trophy will be his biggest assignment in the format in the upcoming year.
In spite of not winning a major tournament since 2013 in the ODI format, India has been a consistent performer in bilateral series as well as ICC events. The loss in the final of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup hurt the legacy of Rohit the ODI skipper.
Rohit Sharma’s captaincy records in tests is pretty average at this stage of his career. Of these 18 matches, more than half of them have taken place at home. His real litmus test as a skipper would come when India tours Australia and England within nine months. If he is able to win either of the two series it will be a great result. There is the upcoming ICC WTC Final as well for which India is the best contender to qualify.
Rohit along with other senior Indian players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja will want to add that trophy to their name.
In terms of win percentage, T20Is has been the format where Rohit has had the most success. In 62 matches, the Indian skipper won 49 matches. This also includes the win in the T20 World Cup in 2024. This was India’s first ICC trophy in more than a decade.
Rohit’s success in the T20I format has been largely due to his experience in the Indian Premier League where he has won 87 matches as a skipper and the trophy five times.
The Asia Cup has played in the ODI format mostly. Rohit Sharma’s captaincy records in the Asia Cup are superb. The Indian team has won two Asia Cups under his leadership in 2018 and 2023. There have been 11 matches in the Asia Cup when he has been a captain and he has only lost once while winning nine times.
There has been one instance when Rohit was the captain when the Asia Cup was played in the T20 format. Rohit did not have a great track record in the T20 Asia Cup in 2022. Rohit’s India played four matches and lost two.
Rohit Sharma’s captaincy records in ICC tournaments have been great. The opening batter has captained India in 44 matches in the ICC tournaments. 18 of these games have come in the ICC World Test Championship. In the WTC, Rohit has an average track record. He has managed to win 12 of those matches and two have resulted in a draw. The chink in his armor is his overseas track record, which is something he can improve in the upcoming months.
In ODI World Cups he captained in the 2023 edition at home. It was a fairytale run for India playing in front of their fans until the final. Under Rohit’s leadership, India won 10 of the 11 matches. The only loss came against Australia in the finals. In the final, Rohit’s decision to not have Siraj share the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah was questioned.
Rohit Sharma’s captaincy records in the ODI World Cup is incredible and could have been better had the Indian team won in the final against Australia on the 19th of November 2023. His leadership qualities were evident throughout the World Cup. Even after his premier all-rounder, Hardik Pandya was injured, Rohit managed to make the best use of his players by going into the match with only five bowlers. India up till the final dominated every opposition.
Rohit Sharma has captained India in two T20 World Cups in 2022 and 2024. The two losses that came under his captaincy were in the 2022 T20 World Cup against South Africa and England. The loss to England in the semi-final was a paradigm shift in Rohit’s captaincy style as well as batting approach.
Since that loss, Rohit became more explosive with the bat in hand which was evident in India’s victories in the T20 World Cup in 2024. In the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rohit scored 257 runs at a strike rate of 156.70 which set the tone for the rest of the team.
In T20 World Cups, Rohit has had a great experience having captained in two editions in 2022 and 2024. In the 2022 T20 World Cup, the Indian team qualified for the semi-finals but received a thrashing from the eventual champions, England as they were defeated by ten wickets. The Indian team in 2022 played tentatively with the bat in hand resulting in under-par scores and was without their spearhead, Bumrah. In 2024, India won every game except one against Canada which was abandoned due to bad weather. The batting performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup was in complete contrast to the 2022 edition. Leading from the front, Rohit was aggressive and won two crucial games because of his batting against Australia and defending champions, England.
Rohit Sharma's captaincy records in ICC tournaments is incredible. Overall in 44 matches in ICC tournaments, Rohit has managed to win 34 and has lost only seven matches. His win percentage of 77.27 is incredible and if he manages to keep that record intact after captaining more overseas tests, he will be regarded as one of the best Indian skippers.
Test cricket is the only format where Rohit’s performance has dipped after becoming the captain. While his conversion rate of fifty to hundred has been incredible there have been times when the Indian skipper has failed to make a start.
Moreover, in games, he has managed to start his innings, Rohit has thrown away his wicket sometimes while trying to play a needless aggressive shot. The pitches he has played after becoming have majorly been bowler-friendly, therefore there are still chances that he could better his average in the longest format.
Unarguably, Rohit Sharma’s best format is ODI cricket. In the format since becoming a skipper, he has played 48 matches. Rohit even scored his third double-century under his captaincy. As a skipper, Rohit has been aggressive with his batting style. Since becoming a skipper has doubled his six-hitting rate. The exponential increase in his boundaries since becoming a skipper has resulted in extreme growth in his strike rate. While many would think that the increase in strike rate would result in rash shots.
However, surprisingly there has been an increase in Rohit’s average as well. While he has excelled in multiple facets since becoming a skipper he has failed in converting his fifties into hundreds. His conversion rate when he played purely as a player was 40% higher than it is currently as the captain.
Rohit Sharma's captaincy records in T20Is is pretty great. In the format, as a skipper has a win percentage of almost 80 in the format. He has improved a lot as a batter when he is the captain. Since becoming the captain in the T20I format, Hitman has increased his boundary count which has resulted in almost one more boundary per inning.
With him being retired in the format, Rohit has effectively been an improved batter as a captain in comparison to when he was just a player.
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