India's World Cup winner and former star batter Robin Uthappa has revealed the major difference between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's captaincy. Robin Uthappa had the opportunity to play alongside both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for India and in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and during his time with the Indian batting maestros, he observed distinct leadership styles in both captains.
Robin Uthappa on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's captaincy
Uthappa has pointed out that Kohli's captaincy approach tended to be more exclusive. On the other hand, Uthappa described Rohit Sharma's leadership style as highly inclusive. He said that Kohli wanted players to meet his fitness standard while Rohit believes in meeting teammates wherever they are and then uplift their game by motivating them.
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“The style of leadership was not inclusive. Virat’s style of leadership was very exclusive. Aap meri tareh bano, toh aap fit ho jaoge. Rohit’s style of leadership is very inclusive. Aap jaha par bhi ho, waha par raho; hum baat karke apki game ko uthayenge," Uthappa told Lallantop.
“I haven’t played under Virat as a captain very much. But Virat, as a captain, he was very ‘my way or the highway’ kind of a captain. It’s not like these guys aren’t also like that, but how you treat your team, how you treat your personnel, because it is not just about results. Virat’s style of captaincy was different to the extent that you needed to reach his level. Whether it was fitness, whether it was eating habits, whether it was listening, or agreeing, all of that had to happen at that standard," he added.
However, the 39-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator made it clear that both the styles work and produce results but the impact on the personnel will be different.
“There are two different types of leaders. There are leaders who say this is the standard needed. Some leaders say, I will meet you where you are, and I will elevate you to the standards I need you to be. For me that is the basic difference between the leadership of them (Rohit and Kohli). Both work and both will produce results, but the impact on the personnel will be different. One will value a lot, and the exclusive one will feel let down a lot," Uthappa concluded.
Virat Kohli assumed the role of India's Test captain in December 2014, succeeding MS Dhoni who stepped down from Test cricket which marked the start of his leadership journey. In January 2017, Kohli's leadership extended to India's limited-overs teams, both One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). He continued to lead the Indian team across all formats until the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021.
During his tenure as captain, Kohli guided India to notable achievements. The team reached the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and the semifinals of the 2019 ODI World Cup. Later in 2022, Rohit took over the captaincy mantle from Kohli. Rohit led India to ODI World Cup 2024 final, WTC 2024 final and then helped India to finally break 11-year-long ICC Trophy drought by winning T20 World Cup 2024 title.