'This is the Legacy he Leaves Behind as Captain': Sanjay Manjrekar Lauds Rohit Sharma's Champion-approach in Kanpur Test

While many would have written off a result being possible after two days of playing time being washed out, the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma remained intent on making a match out of the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh on Monday.

The Indian captain led from the front with his aggressive approach, something we have seen even during the World Cups where he was regularly seen taking the initiative from the very top as a leader of the Indian unit.

The former Indian cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar heavily praised this quality about the Indian captain and suggested that it would be this approach to the game that would be a big part of his legacy in Indian cricket.

“Takeaway for me with the way that India played was this is the legacy Rohit Sharma will leave behind as captain. This is how he thinks. In the past one of the reasons why Test cricket became a little bit of a boring format was that not too many teams were willing to take the initiative barring maybe Australia and West Indies when they were number one. But here’s Rohit Sharma with a strong team. A team that is one of the top two teams in the world also shows the champion approach,” Manjrekar lauded Rohit’s approach on the fourth day in Kanpur in a video uploaded by ESPNCricinfo.

With less than two days of playing time left in the game, Rohit Sharma showcased his intent to win the game by smashing two sixes in the first two balls of his innings. Despite his innings being cut short, the message was clear in the Indian team as they went on to declare at 285/9 which was scored in just 34.4 overs.

“Realising that so much time has been lost he leads by example exactly like he did in the 50-overs World Cup. So this is what Rohit Sharma will leave behind as his contribution to Indian cricket. That is just thumping you to (play) only for the team, try and play to win and you know he doesn’t mind in the process like in the 50-over World Cup where he did not get a big hundred or anything like that,” Manjrekar commented.

“Even here he was quite happy to put his wicket on the line and suddenly we have a Test match which India could win. There is excitement despite what happened. So you have to applaud Rohit Sharma for that,” he concluded.