Former Australia cricketer Brad Haddin gave his two cents on Kohli and Rohit’s captaincy in Indian colours
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin drew comparisons between the captaincy styles of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and found the ‘best’ possible way to answer a question that asked ‘who led the Indian team better?’ Kohli and Rohit are two modern-day greats of the game, with both boasting a solid captaincy record. Kohli, in fact, is India’s most successful Test captain, and while Rohit may not achieve that high, he surely has made rapid strides in ODIs and T20I.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma (L) and Virat Kohli during the 2023 World Cup(AFP)
Beyond the captaincy stats and numbers, Haddin paid huge respect in how Kohli helped take the team forward after MS Dhoni by imbibing a ruthless attitude within his players. Stuff like introduction of the Yo-Yo Test and the epic ‘60 overs of hell’ became synonymous to how India played their cricket, and for that Haddin couldn’t help but marvel at Kohli’s achievements as captain between 2015/2017 and 2021.
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“That’s a damn good question. Now how I’m going to answer that is I thought Virat changed the way India prepared for their cricket. They became really ready. He held his play group to a high standard and he’s one of those captains who said ‘I’m not going to get you to do anything that I’m not doing myself’”, Haddin said on the LiSTNER podcast.
“You’ve seen the athleticism in the Indian cricket team change and their mentality towards it. They were feeling energetic – their fitness and they dived when Virat Kohli took over. And when they were up for the contest against Australia, he didn’t back down. He changed the modern game a lot in India and how India played.”
But Rohit as good as they come tactically, says Haddin
But while Kohli received Haddin’s stamp of approval, Rohit also finds himself in the ex-Aussie keeper’s good books. Since taking over as India’s full-time captain, Rohit led India to the final of the 2nd World Test Championship, semifinal of the T20 World Cup, Asia Cup title and orchestrated India’s once-in-a-lifetime run at the 2023 ODI World Cup.
But for Haddin, the greatness of Rohit the captain lies in how amazing he is tactically and ensures he keeps the team together. Listen to the recent anecdotes from Ravichandran Ashwin and Yashasvi Jaiswal about Rohit being a players’ captain, with Haddin’s point of view reiterating the same.
“But on the other hand, Rohit Sharma is as good a captain tactically that you’ll see. He’s had a lot of success in the IPL. He’s captained there since Ricky Ponting left. And that would have been over 10 years. The players play for him and tactically he’s as good as you’ll get in India and non subcontinent conditions. That’s the best I can answer that,” he said.
