Rohit has shown himself to be a true leader of men Premium

K.L. Rahul's six seals India's Champions Trophy final spot, Rohit Sharma's leadership prowess shines in all formats.

K.L. Rahul’s gigantic six off Glenn Maxwell on Tuesday night was significant for more reasons than one.

Not only did it formalise India’s entry into the final of the Champions Trophy for the fifth time in the tournament’s history — and the third time on the bounce — it also thrust Rohit Sharma into the leadership stratosphere.

Less than three years after taking over as India’s all-format captain, from Virat Kohli, Rohit has become the first skipper to take his side to the final of all four ICC tournaments — the World Test Championship, the 50-over World Cup, the T20 World Cup and now this competition, which has been revived after eight years.

It’s a phenomenal record for someone who, as recently as in October 2019, wasn’t sure where his red-ball career was headed.

Kohli and then head coach Ravi Shastri’s decision to promote Rohit to open the Test batting has turned out to be a masterstroke. Twin centuries in his maiden avatar as opener against South Africa in Visakhapatnam wasn’t a false dawn, unlike centuries in his first two Tests against West Indies in November 2013. Despite his recent travails at home against New Zealand and in Australia, Rohit continues to be a feared and respected Test opener, especially for the self-discipline and self-denial he assiduously incorporated in his game during the tour of England in 2021.

Rohit has shown himself to be a true leader of men. Long before his ascension to the Indian captaincy throne on his own steam — he had weighed in as limited-overs skipper on and off from December 2017, whenever Kohli wasn’t available — he had showcased his credentials with Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Taking over mid-season from a misfiring Ricky Ponting in 2013, Rohit led his team to their maiden title that same year, then backed it up with further successes in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, when he became the first captain since M.S. Dhoni in 2011 to successfully defend the crown.

By the time the Indian captaincy came to him, Rohit was ready. He had served nearly a decade of apprenticeship, if that’s what it was, in the contours of franchise cricket, where managing superstars and superstar egos is potentially more demanding and trickier than within the national set-up, where the captain generally has the lie of the land.