India vs Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma had an excellent debut as Test captain, says Sunil Gavaskar

India vs Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma won his first Test as captain in a comfortable manner as India outclassed Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs in Mohali on Sunday.

atting great Sunil Gavaskar said he is impressed with the early impression of Rohit Sharma as a Test captain, saying the new skipper got his field placements and bowling changes right in their innings and 222-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first of a 2-Test series in Mohali.

Gavaskar said India winning with 2 days to spare against Sri Lanka shows that Rohit Sharma's leadership was spot on in his debut as captain.

India put on a clinical performance against Sri Lanka, hammering the hosts inside 3 days. After posting 574/8 declared in their first innings, India dismissed Sri Lanka for 174 and 178 in a span of 4 sessions to go 1-0 up in the Test series. Rohit made some bold calls, including that of holding back Jasprit Bumrah in the 2nd innings and backing Jayant Yadav even as Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin were running through the Sri Lankan attack.

"Excellent debut (as captain). When you win inside three days, it tells you your team has been superior. More importantly, when India were fielding, the bowling changes were very impressive. The catches were going to exactly where the fielders were. The fielders did not move much. What does it tell you? Spot on-field placing," Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

"Even the bowling changes, you could possibly argue that the Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings was brought on a little later but at the end of the day, the team has won with 2 days to spare.

"I would give him 9.5 out of 10."

Notably, Rohit replaced Virat Kohli as India's new Test captain after the Delhi batter quit from the role following a 1-2 defeat in a Test series in South Africa. There was speculation about Kohli's successor but the selection committee backed Rohit as captain across all three formats despite concerns over his fitness.