Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma’s old statement about young players needing to prove themselves has gone viral again, following Shubman Gill’s appointment as India’s new ODI captain. The clip, taken from the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, shows Rohit emphasizing that leadership in Indian cricket is earned, not given.
During an interview on Day 2 of the Sydney Test against Australia in early 2025, Rohit avoided naming any future captain directly. Still, he emphasized the importance of understanding the game before assuming leadership responsibilities. He praised Jasprit Bumrah as an example of a player who has grown into the role through consistent performance and maturity.
“𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔: 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕, 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕… 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒆𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝑩𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊, 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑴𝑺 𝑫𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒊. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕. 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓,” 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔.
Rohit Makes First Public Appearance Since ODI Captaincy Change
Following India’s successes under his leadership, including the 2023 ODI World Cup final, 2024 T20 World Cup win, and 2025 Champions Trophy, Rohit was recently replaced as ODI captain to groom a younger leader ahead of the 2027 World Cup. At the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai, he made his first public remarks since the transition and shared his thoughts on the upcoming ODI series against Australia.
“𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕,” 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
The resurfacing of Rohit’s words has reignited discussions about the importance of experience, consistency, and patience in taking on leadership roles within Indian cricket.
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