SA v IND: Rohit Sharma has been the most selfless Indian cricketer I have seen in a long time, says Simon Doull

Former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Doull lauded Rohit Sharma’s approach to his batting and captaincy in the recent past, saying the Mumbai star has been “the most selfless Indian cricketer” he has seen in the last few years. Doull said Rohit has all the tools and the temperament to find success in South Africa, as a batter and as a captain.

Rohit Sharma will be back in competitive action for the first time since the World Cup 2023 final when he leads the Indian side in a 2-Test series against South Africa, starting December 26. Rohit has played 4 Tests and scored just 123 runs without a fifty in South Africa, but he will be leading the side for the first time in the Rainbow Nation.

India are looking to win their first-ever Test series in South Africa and Rohit Sharma’s recent form will only be a huge boost to the visiting side’s confidence as they look to build on their good start to the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.

Rohit has not played Tests in South Africa since his resurgence as an opener in 2019. The India captain has scored hundreds in tough conditions, including in England and in India against some of the best bowling attacks in the recent past, averaging over 50 in 25 Tests, wherein he has scored 2092 runs as an opener.

Doull said he would want to see the aggressive and selfless Rohit Sharma that was on display in the World Cup during the Test series in South Africa.

“It will be about tempering his game a little bit. The one thing I have observed about Rohit Sharma in the last 10-18 months is that he has probably been the most selfless Indian cricketer I have seen in a long, long time. He has done everything he possibly could for his team to win. He made this team, he played in a certain way to allow the others in the team to be able to play the way they play, in white-ball cricket in particular,” Doull told Star Sports after India won the ODI series 2-1 in Paarl on Thursday.

“In the World Cup, we saw that he set the tone at the top of the order, which allowed the middle order to play the way they played. So, it’s a slight change for him, not too much. I still want him to be that aggressive Rohit Sharma. We do see it in Test matches,” he added.

‘WANT CAPTAIN ROHIT TO BE AGGRESSIVE’

Rohit Sharma missed the Test series that India lost 2-1 under Virat Kohli’s captaincy in 2021-22 due to an injury.

Since taking over as captain, Rohit has found success in whites too, leading India to memorable victories at home against Australia and away from home in West Indies last year.

Doull believes that Rohit is only getting better as a Test captain and that he is learning to be more aggressive as a skipper in red-ball cricket.

“The captaincy thing. He is getting really better. He has become a very, very good captain. He was always a very good white-ball captain, but I think he has become a slightly more aggressive red-ball captain. I am looking forward to seeing more of that through this series,” Doull added.

Rohit Sharma will have a strong squad at his disposal as India look to breach what is known as their final frontier in Tests. The Test team is playing an intra-squad match behind closed doors in Pretoria in the lead-up to the series opener – the Boxing Day Test in Centurion, starting December 26.