Khaleel Ahmed lauds Rohit Sharma’s leadership, wants him to keep playing at top level

Indian bowler Khaleel Ahmed has showered praise on Rohit Sharma’s leadership and wants the Indian ODI captain to keep playing for another decade. Rohit Sharma, 38, is at the fag end of his career and it will be interesting to note if he would go on to play the next ODI World Cup.

Rohit has already announced his retirement from T20Is and Test cricket. Meanwhile, Ahmed recalled a match against Bangladesh in which he could only take one wicket and also proved costly. The CSK bowler returned with figures of 1-44 in four overs he bowled in that game in Rajkot in 2019. However, the left-arm seamer revealed how Rohit backed and motivated him when he was feeling low in the dressing room.

Khaleel Ahmed said in an interview with RevSportz, “I feel Rohit Sharma should play for the next 10 years for the good of Indian cricket and that’s my personal feeling. When in 2019, we were playing a series against Bangladesh in Rajkot, once I didn’t have a great day and only got one wicket, so he came to me and spoke to me personally in the dressing room.”

“The team was leaving the stadium and he stayed back to have a one on one with me and told me how I should be. He told me that I am unaware of my own capabilities. When we were getting out of the stadium, all the fans were screaming for Rohit bhai and he told me that ‘all of this should happen for you too’ and that I should wish that for myself and stay positive,” he added.

Ahmed revealed Rohit backed Rishabh Pant in a similar way and praised him for his brilliant leadership.

“A captain like him, talking to me like that after the match, made me wonder how kind a person he was. I’ve seen him do the same thing with Rishabh (Pant). ‘What a man! What a captain!’ I would say. People don’t even look at you when you have a bad match but as a captain he is something else.”

“Recently I met him at the NCA (Centre of Excellence) during the Duleep Trophy and he looked very fit so I asked him to stay like that and keep playing. I have hardly seen such a captain and person in my life, he is a gem and I have a lot of respect and love for him. It’s not possible to express everything in this short interview.”

Rohit will next be seen in action in the three-match ODI series against Australia.