When Ricky Ponting Lauded Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy

image-lqawfzxnRohit Sharma and Ricky Ponting after IPL 2013 (x.com)

Mumbai Indians franchise recently replaced team’s decade-long skipper Rohit Sharma with star all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Notably, Sharma commenced his leadership journey with the franchise back in IPL 2013, after then skipper Ricky Ponting exiled himself halfway into the tournament.

The decision worked wonders for the team management, as Mumbai Indians went on to conquer their maiden IPL title later that season. Sharma also led the franchise to four more title wins in the subsequent 10 editions, thus making them one of the most decorated teams in IPL history.

On the backdrop of Sharma’s unexpected demotion, here at OneCricket, we take a look back at a time when he received a unique praise from none other than Australia’s two-time World Cup-winning captain and a former Mumbai Indians leader himself, Ricky Ponting.

When Ponting hailed his former protégé Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma led Team India at the 2023 World Cup at home with much success. Under his guidance and collective team efforts, the ‘Men in Blue’ trounced each of their opponents with emphatic margins to storm into the finals.

After the Indian team registered wins in their first three fixtures, Sharma received a huge praise from his ex-Mumbai Indians skipper and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting. The legendary Australian batsman lauded Sharma’s leadership attributes and described the Indian opener as a laid-back individual. He said:

“He's very laid back, Rohit. Very laid back with everything he does. You can even see that by the way that he plays. He's a pretty laconic sort of batsman as well, and that's the way he is both on and off the field.”

Even though Rohit Sharma is one of the most successful captains in the history of the IPL, under his leadership, the Mumbai Indians franchise as not reached a single final since winning the title back in 2020 in UAE. The team’s recent run of form prompted the team management to replace him with Hardik Pandya, who recently led the Gujarat Titans to IPL glory in their maiden appearance in 2022.