After Virat Kohli stepped down from India's all-format captaincy, Rohit Sharma had a big onus on his shoulder as he has a big shoe to fill. But the way India are performing under his reign, certainly proves his efficiency as a skipper. Clinching back to back series sweeps in T20Is and ODIs, Rohit made his captaincy debut in the longest format in the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka on Friday (February 4).
He has become 35th Indian Test captain overall and the second oldest on captaincy debut in the last 60 years. The 34-years-and-308-day old Rohit, is only behind India's former captain Anil Kumble, who led the Test team for the first time at the age of 37 years and 36 days.
In the 14 Test matches that Kumble played as captain, India won three, lost five and drew six. He had led India to a memorable 1-0 home series win over arch-rivals Pakistan, immediately after being anointed as skipper.
Kumble ended his career with 619 wickets in 132 Tests and 337 wickets in 271 ODIs during his illustrious 18-year career.
Meanwhile, Rohit has so far played 44 matches and have scored 3076 as his highest score remains 212.
Rohit, however, could only score 29 runs in the Mohali Test in his debut match as India's Test captain. He looked absolutely set but failed to convert it into a big score. Rohit Sharma lost his wicket while playing his favorite pull shot off Lahiru Kumar.
Earlier, in a press conference on the eve of the first Test against Sri Lanka, Rohit was asked about his captaincy heading into the longest format to which he said," My philosophy of captaincy will remain the same in Tests too. Stay in the present, analyse the situation and then react. Don't want to think too far ahead. We all know it is a different format. No comparison with ODIs."
The 33-year-old was also asked about his personal goals in Test cricket, to which he said," What should I say? I have targets set for the team. Yes, I have played around 40 Tests. There have been a lot of ups and downs. But I have learned a lot because of that too. I have a big job in front of me and I am focused on that," Rohit added.
Rohit has been phenomenal so far in limited overs cricket for India as he has led the Men in Blue to 12 successive wins since taking over as skipper of the national team.
Meanwhile, the former India captain Virat Kohli became only the 12th Indian to achieve the feat of playing 100 match in the longest format of the game.
