Xtra Time Web Desk: Team India opener KL Rahul on Monday said that all the players in the T20 team are excited to play under new captain Rohit Sharma. The Mumbai batter took over the T20 captaincy from Virat Kohli after the later announced he will not lead the team in this format after the recently concluded T20 World Cup in UAE.
Rohit, who has led Mumbai Indians to 5 IPL titles, will be captaining India with Rahul as his deputy for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting November 17 in Jaipur. India will also play under new coach Rahul Dravid for the first time after he replaced Ravi Shastri from the top job earlier this month.
“There’s nothing new in Rohit being captain, we’ve all seen him leading Mumbai Indians for as long as I can remember. His stats are there for everybody to be seen, he has a great understanding of the game.
“Tactically he’s really good and that’s why he’s been able to achieve the kind of things that he has as a leader.
“We all enjoy watching Rohit bat, he is a great guy to be around. I’m sure he’s excited and all of us in the Indian team are excited to play under Rohit,” Rahul said in a virtual press conference ahead of the series.
The 29-year-old Karnataka batsman went on to add that Rohit “will bring a lot of calm” in the Indian dressing room when he takes over. Notably, Rohit Sharma has a better win-percentage (78.94) than Virat Kohli (64.58) as India captain in T20I cricket.
“He will bring a lot of calm into the dressing room and the next few weeks will be exciting to understand what kind of goals he has.
“The more we talk to him in the next few days, I’ll also be able to understand it better. But like I said, it’s a big change in Indian cricket and we are all looking forward and excited about it,” Rahul added.