Rohit Sharma is a shrewd tactician, no two ways about it. He understands cricket inside out. As the Mumbai Indians captain, he has won five trophies. As the India captain, he has won two ICC trophies. Even though he is not a captain anymore, a person who has tasted so much success in his career can clearly sense the winds of change.
Sharma, who now represents India only in ODIs, having retired from Tests and T20Is, thinks India’s dominance in ICC events in the last couple of years across men’s and women’s cricket is not something that has just happened. And he thinks the momentum is on India’s side at present, which augurs well for the future.
India’s men’s team has won two T20 World Cups and one Champions Trophy since 2024. The women’s team, meanwhile, won its first-ever World Cup last year. Earlier this year, India’s Under-19 team too won the World Cup.
“There’s no secret to success; it’s all about hard work. International cricketers – men’s and women’s – they work really, really hard to achieve what they have achieved. Of course, it’s not just the players who perform on the field, but there are so many people behind the scenes as well who put in so much hard work into that success.
“So a lot of people and personnel to give credit to,” Mumbai Indians’ Rohit said ahead of the 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that kicks off on March 19.
“I feel very, very happy and proud to see what we’ve been seeing for the last couple of years now to come out with flying colours and achieve what we have achieved, not just the men’s team but also the women’s team to win that World Cup in Mumbai was fantastic to watch.
“And recently now what the men’s team did to win the T20 World Cup, what they did was phenomenal. And I hope this is just the start, there’s no looking back from here because once you get the momentum – and we often talk about momentum in cricket – both men’s and women’s teams have, all I hope is that we carry this momentum,” he added.
Mumbai Indians kick off their IPL campaign at home at the Wankhede Stadium on March 29 as they host Kolkata Knight Riders.
