Ashwin dismisses Rohit Sharma narrative in ‘biggest’ verdict: ‘His legacy ain’t leading IND to back-to-back ICC titles’
Veteran India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin heaped massive praise on skipper Rohit Sharma for creating a big legacy as a white-ball batter. Rohit has led the team from the front in the last couple of years, and as a result, India have won two ICC titles – 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy within twelve months. The swashbuckling opener has set high standards at the top of the order with his fearless batting. He has shown positive intent with the bat in the powerplay, which gave the middle order a big advantage straightaway.
The 37-year-old also set the tone for India in the Champions Trophy final with a 76-run knock in the tricky chase. He stamped his authority over the Kiwi bowlers in the powerplay, which put them on the back foot.
Ashwin, who played under Rohit’s captaincy during the fag end of his international career, talked about the 37-year-old leadership credentials.
“He (Rohit) has led by example since that 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal loss against England. If a captain is willing to risk his wicket in the middle, the players know that’s how they will have to play,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, the veteran all-rounder asserted that his legacy is not the back-to-back ICC titles or five IPL trophies as captain but how he has changed the thought process of batting in white-ball cricket at the top.
“Rohit’s biggest legacy is not about winning the tournaments. He has won five IPL titles with the Mumbai Indians. He has now led India to back-to-back ICC titles. That’s not his legacy. Rohit Sharma has changed the batting frontier of Indian white-ball cricket. That is his biggest legacy,” he said.
The veteran all-rounder elaborated that in the earlier batting landscape, the openers were assigned the role of scoring big runs and remaining not out, but Rohit has completely changed the template with a fearless approach.
“He is a stalwart in ODI cricket. Actually, he changed out the cricketing thought process in the white-ball when it comes to the batting. Earlier it was to score big runs and remain not out. Please note this. In India, the batting landscape was like this only: the top three batters will score big runs; they will improve their average,” he added.
‘Rohit Sharma has changed the mindset…’
Ashwin further talked about Rohit’s batting template and said that the young cricketers should also adopt the same in the white-ball cricket to achieve success.
“The mindset is the same even in the junior age group; you stay not out and score big. I feel as a batter now in the ODIs and in the T20Is, you must play selfless cricket. With that regard, Rohit Sharma has changed that mindset as a captain with the way he is playing and is asking his players to play the same way. May God be with him; he has been an absolute superstar for the Indian team,” Ashwin added.
