Stand-in Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav expressed his admiration for the Indian veteran Rohit Sharma, who led the team by example in the recently concluded ODI World Cup 2023. The Men in Blue were dominant throughout the marquee event but came short of a well-deserved trophy in front of their home fans.

Following Virat Kohli’s departure as India captain after the 2021 T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma provided a breath of fresh air to Indian cricket. The Indian team performed flawlessly in the ODI World Cup before losing the finals of the showpiece event against Australia.

Suryakumar Yadav addressed the press before the first match of the series, praising Rohit Sharma’s leadership and underlining that the India captain set an exceptional precedent, garnering pride for his leadership qualities. India remained unbeaten throughout the competition until the final.

“That is one thing that will set an example for youngsters. What he has done in the World Cup was a completely different Rohit Sharma – he literally walked the talk. What was spoken in the team meetings, he did that on the ground. As a leader, he led by example and we will try to replicate the same thing,” Suryakumar Yadav said.

Team India captain and opener Rohit Sharma set the tone at the top of the order, accumulating 597 runs, second only to Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli. Rohit’s runs were similarly important, as he had the highest strike rate of any top-four batter in the competition at 125.94. As captain, Rohit led the Men in Blue to a record-breaking 10-game winning streak in the prestigious competition.

Rohit Sharma is one of the renowned white-ball captains in the world, leading Mumbai Indians to five IPL championship titles. The Indian opener also led the Men in Blue to the 2018 Asia Cup and Nidahas Trophy titles and added another Asia Cup title under his leadership in Sri Lanka before the start of the tournament but could not lead the team to the third ODI World Cup title.

Suryakumar Yadav is all set to captain the second-string Indian team for the five-match T20 series against Australia starting on Thursday. Due to Pandya’s inability to play in the Australia series, middle-order batsman Suryakumar will lead India in the Twenty20 Internationals, while Asian Gold medal-winning skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad will serve as deputy of Suryakumar Yadav in the first three T20 games and Shreyas Iyer in last two T20 games.