Former Sri Lanka all-rounder Russell Arnold on Thursday reserved highest praise for India's new captain Rohit Sharma and how the T20I team has changed under his captaincy since the forgettable T20 World 2021 where the Men in Blue suffered a group-stage exit.
Virat Kohli had stepped down from T20I captaincy after the end of the tournament in the UAE. Rohit was named the new white-ball captain. India have since won 7 consecutive T20I matches in a row which includes back-to-back series win at home - against New Zealand in November 2021 and West Indies last week. India scripted their longest ever winning streak with a 62-run win against Sri Lanka on Thursday in Lucknow.
Arnold, in conversation with Star Sports, after the first T20I, opined that India needed a different voice to lead the team after that T20 World Cup journey. He also hailed Rohit's captaincy and the depth of the Indian squad.
"Different voice is sometimes good for a team, that's what India needed. I thought in that T20 World Cup, the pressure of expectations seemed to wear them down. Now that it's over, all of them are able to express themselves. The captain himself, he generally leads from the front. We never felt he was scoring, but was scoring with a strike rate of 140-150, which is exceptional." Arnold told Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}"Different voice is sometimes good for a team, that's what India needed. I thought in that T20 World Cup, the pressure of expectations seemed to wear them down. Now that it's over, all of them are able to express themselves. The captain himself, he generally leads from the front. We never felt he was scoring, but was scoring with a strike rate of 140-150, which is exceptional." Arnold told Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}"If someone can look so good and look so cool, he really doesn't have to say much. Everyone will follow him. The depth is there in the Indian line-up and that will make Rohit's life a lot easier," he added.
With a win in the first T20I, where Rohit became the leading run-getter in T20I cricket with his knock of 44 runs, India will aim to wrap up the series in Dharamsala in the second match and hence aim for a hat-trick of series wins.