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India’s T20 captain Shreyas Iyer is going through a difficult phase after the team’s disappointing performance against Ireland and England. As questions are being raised over Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, former India assistant coach Abhishek Nair has shared what made Rohit Sharma a special leader during challenging times.
Nair said that Rohit’s biggest strength is the way he always stands with his players after defeat. Taking a dig at Iyer, Rohit will take the responsibility on himself instead of blaming any player and will ensure that every player feels supported inside the dressing room. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer’s sister alleged that he is playing with ’10 snakes’ in Team India.
Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy is under question after a bad start
Shreyas Iyer has had a very tough start as India’s T20I captain. India first suffered a shocking 2-0 series defeat against Ireland and then lost the ongoing five-match T20 series against England. The team is still waiting for its first win under the captaincy of Iyer, due to which it is under immense pressure.
Even though Shreyas has scored runs with the bat, India’s overall performance has been disappointing. The middle-order batsmen have failed to score runs consistently, the team has made costly fielding mistakes, and some team selections have also been more than costly mistakes.
Along with the bad results, Shreyas has also come under target because of his comments. After the second T20I against England, many felt that the captain’s comments indirectly pointed towards leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who had a tough day and was eventually dropped from the playing eleven.
Rohit himself took the blame: Abhishek Nair took a dig at Shreyas Iyer
Recalling Rohit Sharma’s captaincy days, Abhishek Nair said that the former India captain always knew how to keep the dressing room calm after such poor results. He ensured that losing the match did not affect the confidence of his players.
Abhishek Nair said on JioStar’s ‘Googlies’: “We had Rohit Sharma as the captain, and I remember he came out after the Mumbai Test and said in the press conference, ‘It’s OK. We have won many series; we have lost this one, and I will take responsibility for it.’ Rohit was like that.”
Abhishek Nair told how Rohit Sharma lifted the players after every defeat
Nair further explained that Rohit Sharma always used to check the players who were struggling the most. If someone was performing poorly with the bat or making mistakes on the field, Rohit would spend time with that player and, unlike Iyer, try to boost his confidence instead of bringing him down.
The former Indian coach further added, “He always had that side in him that could lighten the mood and make sure the team was okay. Of course, whenever India lose, it hurts everyone. But one thing he did exceptionally well was look after his players. He would think about who was affected the most, who had not scored runs, and how he could make them feel better.”
Abhishek Nair reveals the biggest strength of Rohit Sharma’s captaincy
Nair also said that one of the qualities he admires most in Rohit Sharma is that he never blames any individual player after a defeat. As captain, he himself accepted the responsibility and stood in front of the team in difficult moments. The KKR coach said this approach helped build confidence among the players and created a positive atmosphere inside the dressing room.
He signed off by saying, “The quality I admire most about Rohit is that he always takes responsibility. He never came forward and blamed anyone by saying, ‘You did this’ or ‘You did that.’ Instead, he would throw up his hands and say, ‘I failed.’ You never hear him making excuses or throwing anyone under the bus.”