India’s successful shift to an aggressive batting style owes much to former captain Rohit Sharma and ex-head coach Rahul Dravid, says Ravichandran Ashwin. The former off-spinner credited the duo with not just advocating a bolder approach but embodying it themselves, sparking a transformation in India’s T20I and ODI batting mindset.
“Rohit as a captain has always been laying his stamp by showing the team what he wants from it. The transitional batting that India has gone through in T20 cricket and ODI cricket –the way we bat fast — a lot of credit for that goes to Rohit and Rahul bhai,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat.’
“They showed the way, Rahul bhai said this is how we have to play and Rohit showed the way…paved the way and eventually it has changed the way how Indian perceived batting. Batting is not average it is purely strike rate in white ball cricket,” he added.
Under Rohit and Dravid, India chose a more proactive strategy following a string of unsuccessful ICC campaigns. The transformation was obvious during the 2023 ODI World Cup at home, as India dominated the league stage with an aggressive approach, and later in the 2024 T20 World Cup success in the Caribbean and USA.
With stalwarts Rohit and Virat Kohli currently appearing exclusively in ODI cricket after moving away from the other two formats, Ashwin advised fans to embrace their remaining time in international cricket.
“I will say one thing, how much time we have to watch and enjoy Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bat, please let’s do it because once they are done, we could hear talks like ‘oh, what a player he was! Please bring him back’. That doesn’t cut ice for me.”
“For however long they play, let us celebrate them as long as they are playing. As I said, life moves on very fast. Time does not wait for anyone. It is very important that we realise that the time is less. So it is better that we enjoy whatever they are doing,”
