Rohit Sharma considers ex-Mumbai Indians coach Ricky Ponting 'from another planet'

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma is one of the most destructive batsmen of modern times. The right-handed batsman, who broke into the Indian team a decade ago, was cited as one of the brightest talents in cricket. Rohit Sharma has gone onto become a veteran in the limited-overs formats of the game and is slowly establishing himself in the Test circuit.

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Besides his batting, Rohit Sharma has also emerged as a terrific leader. The 33-year old has guided his IPL franchise Mumbai Indians to four IPL titles in just seven years. Time and again, Rohit Sharma has spoken on Ricky Ponting's role in his emergence as a leader.

Rohit Sharma opens up on Ricky Ponting's influence on his career

Recently, the Mumbai Indians captain spoke on the former Australia captain's influence on him and Mumbai Indians during his stint with the franchise. Rohit Sharma was involved in an Instagram live session with India teammate R Ashwin where the duo reminisced about the 2013 India-Australia match when the former scored his first ODI double century.

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Rohit Sharma was named captain of Mumbai Indians midway through the tournament after Ricky Ponting decided to step down. Rohit Sharma said being with him and how he handled the team in the first six games and even before that was commendable. He added that Ponting was the first one to arrive in India, much before any other domestic player also. One could see his passion and energy. He wanted to feel the team, he wanted to come and understand each and everybody.

Rohit Sharma also spoke about Ricky Ponting's man-management skills. Sharma spoke about a bonding session under Ponting’s captaincy, where the team was divided into groups of four, and he was with Ponting and two young domestic players. Rohit Sharma added that Ponting told those two youngsters that he had watched their videos and lauded their game. He motivated them by saying that they can go a long way if they can handle pressure. 

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During the conversation, Rohit told R Ashwin that there was a debate about Dinesh Karthik being part of the team and some people thought that Karthik could replace Ponting as captain. But eventually, Ricky Ponting called him up and said that they want him to take the team ahead from here and he added as he has got a solid game sense. Ponting further told Rohit that he was sure that he would do a good job.

Rohit Sharma further said that Ponting became player-cum-coach after that and he was always there to help him. He added that Ponting always stood in front to take responsibility if there was any issue or whatever. Mumbai Indians went on to become the most successful franchise under Rohit Sharma's leadership with four IPL titles. They will be the favourites to win the IPL 2020 if the tournament takes place.

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IMAGE COURTESY: MUMBAI INDIANS INSTAGRAM