England coach in awe of Rohit Sharma's captaincy, lauds India skipper ahead of Test challenge

The current head coach of England's Test team and a former captain of New Zealand, Brendon McCullum. expressed his admiration for Rohit Sharma's "bold" captaincy during a time when there is a lot of discussion around India's T20I captaincy. Rohit's extremely aggressive mentality as an opening batsman and skipper at the just-finished ODI World Cup was one of the most noticeable aspects of his leadership. At a strike rate of 125, Rohit's 597 runs during the World Cup ranked second only to teammate Virat Kohli's 762 career total. Rohit was not afraid to take risks on the field as a captain either.

3 things you need to know

• Rohit Sharma led India to the World Cup 2023 final
• Rohit Sharma scored 597 runs in the World Cup
• Sharma is partially not a part of the South Africa series

Also Read | Deepak Chahar faces personal crisis as father hospitalized -South Africa tour in jeopardy

Brendon McCullum lavishes praise on Rohit Sharma

Interestingly, McCullum's approach in the 2015 ODI World Cup with New Zealand was reminiscent of Rohit's batting and captaincy style. Despite being the stronger team during the group rounds, both sides ultimately fell to Australia in the championship match.

According to McCullum, Rohit's willingness to take chances might be very beneficial for a team like India, given their abundance of skill.

"Yeah. I like his captaincy. I think his captaincy is bold. He takes risks, and he takes the game on. And when you add the talent base of India to these kinds of tactics, then he can achieve very good things. He has been a great leader for not just India but for Mumbai Indians over the years as well."

Also Read | Mushfiqur Rahim finds a unique way of getting out

Rohit Sharma will be a part of the Test series against South Africa

Rohit Sharma will return to action during India's tour of South Africa. BCCI recently announced three different squads for the tour, one each for T20, ODI, and Test series. Sharma hasn't been included in the white ball sections of the tour but will be part of the side in the Test series.