Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid (File photo/Agencies) NEW DELHI: Ravichandran Ashwin has said that India’s aggressive batting style in recent years is a result of the influence of former captain Rohit Sharma and former head coach Rahul Dravid.The former India off-spinner said that the two pushed for a quicker approach to scoring in limited-overs cricket and also followed the same approach themselves, which helped change the team’s mindset in T20Is and ODIs.
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“Rohit as a captain has always made a mark by showing the team what they want from him. The transitional batting that India have gone through in T20 cricket and ODI cricket – the way we bat quickly – a lot of credit goes to Rohit and Rahul bhai,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’.“They showed the way, Rahul bhai said this is how we have to play and Rohit showed the way, paved the way and ultimately it changed the way India viewed batting. Batting is not average, it is purely strike rate in white ball cricket,” he added.According to Ashwin, India have moved to a more proactive plan under the leadership of Rohit and Dravid after a series of disappointing ICC results. This approach was visible during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, where the team led the league stage with an attacking method, and again in winning the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now only playing ODI cricket after retiring from T20Is and Tests, Ashwin said fans should cherish the period they have left in international cricket.“I will say one thing, how much time we have to watch and enjoy Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bat, please let’s do it because once they are done we could hear talk like ‘oh what a player he was! Please bring him back’. That doesn’t solve the ice for me.”“As long as they play, let’s celebrate them while they play. Like I said, life moves very fast. Time waits for no one. It’s very important that we realize that time is less. So it’s better if we enjoy whatever they do,” he said.
