IND vs SL 2022: "He is handling man management really well" - Nikhil Chopra on Rohit Sharma's captaincy

Former India cricketer Nikhil Chopra praised Rohit Sharma's style of captaincy and his ability to manage the players. Sharma recorded a massive victory by an innings and 222 runs in his first contest as India's Test captain.

Sharma's captaincy approach, which relies a lot on him encouraging the players to express themselves on the field, has been endorsed by many. The 34-year-old has had a smooth start as India's all-format captain following four consecutive series wins.

Opining that Rohit Sharma is handling things well, especially the smaller aspects, Chopra said on the Khelneeti podcast:

"Rohit Sharma is handling man management really well. It's all about giving confidence to the player. Rohit has been promoting Jadeja and giving him a promotion in T20Is. For instance, he gave Jayant Yadav an extended spell towards the end of the contest. That would have given him confidence because Jayant is likely to be dropped for the second Test."

Team India are unlikely to go with three spinners on the Bangalore surface with the pink ball. Mohammad Siraj is likely to come into the side to play at his franchise home venue for the contest under the lights in place of Jayant Yadav.

Chopra added:

"Similarly, giving a guard of honour to Virat Kohli showed a great player giving respect to another great player. So, all these small things that Rohit is doing, is very good to see."

Ravindra Jadeja, who was the Player of the Match in the first Test against Sri Lanka, was promoted to No. 5 during the T20I series against the Lankans. The all-rounder repaid his captain's faith by recording a couple of blistering cameos, helping India complete a series whitewash.

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"Rohit Sharma, Iyer, Pant and Vihari would be thinking they missed out an opportunity to get 200" - Nikhil Chopra

The first Test in Mohali, despite boasting a relatively harmless, flat surface, ended in a matter of three days. India, after amassing 574 in the first innings, did not have to return to bat, with the bowlers comfortably taking 20 wickets in just 124 overs.

Opining that several Indian batters must be regretting not making the most of their starts on the Mohali pitch, Chopra said:

"Rohit Sharma, Iyer, Pant and Vihari would be thinking they missed out an opportunity to get 200 on that wicket. They had done the hard work. Once you score 25-30, you get used to the pace and bounce of the pitch. Now Sri Lanka had only one spinner and had Lahiru Kumara injured as well."

Chopra concluded:

"They only had Lakmal and Vishwa Fernando, they were bowling around 125-130, the ball was getting old and they were unable to reverse it as well. When you score a big innings like 200, the rope of matches gets longer."

Each member of the Indian batting unit had got starts and the lowest score was that of Shreyas Iyer with 27 to his name. Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant made the most of their starts and went on to score 175 and 96 respectively to propel India to a mammoth first innings total.