Pragyan Ojha reveals Rohit Sharma was all set to lead Deccan Chargers in the IPL: Rohit Sharma’s ex-teammate and former Indian cricketer Pragyan Ojha has revealed that the former was highly probable to lead his first Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Deccan Chargers. Ojha opened up that Rohit Sharma showed his leadership traits while he was just a player for, the now-defunct, Deccan Chargers.
Notably, Rohit Sharma’s fortunes took a sharp U-turn since he went to Mumbai Indians in 2011. The cricketer has always remained mediocre in terms of run-scoring, however, captaincy distinguished him from the rest.
Mumbai Indians handed over the leadership roles to Rohit Sharma back in 2013 midway through the tournament after Ricky Ponting decided to relinquish his job. Sharma took his team to the maiden IPL title in that season itself (2013) and since then he has never looked back.
Currently, Rohit Sharma is the most successful IPL skipper with five IPL titles under his belt.
But all this could happen due to the auctions held in 2011 in which Mumbai Indians bagged Rohit Sharma for $2,000,000. Though in Deccan Chargers he was certainly looked as a strong captaincy material candidate, Mumbai Indians took three long years before they got convinced with the fact, that Rohit Sharma can lead a team.
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Adam Gilchrist sensed Rohit Sharma’s captaincy traits:
Pragyan Ojha revealed that Adam Gilchrist sensed Rohit Sharma’s leadership qualities a lot earlier. During his early days in the IPL, Rohit was made an important member of the Deccan Chargers’ think tank.
“As a batsman he was extraordinary. Then even Mumbai’s domestic team did not see him as a captain. But I distinctly remember that when Adam Gilchrist was captain, he kept Rohit in the think tank,” Ojha told Cricbuzz.
“He felt that the way Rohit batted, the clarity he showed and the ability he showed in pressure situations, he might have leadership qualities. And when his inputs started coming in, it surely felt like he could be the captain,” he added.
Ojha added that had there been no auctions in 2011, Rohit Sharma certainly would have led Deccan Chargers before leading Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
“Had there been no auction after the third season, then probably Rohit would have led the Deccan Chargers side before leading the Mumbai Indians team. Because Gilchrist had already said ‘Rohit is ready now’. But in auction, it’s not in anybody’s hand, and everyone knew that Mumbai Indians would go after Rohit Sharma because after Sachin Tendulkar, they felt that if anyone could lead the side then it would be Rohit,” asserted Ojha.
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