"You can see the smiling faces in the Indian camp" - Wasim Jaffer feels Rohit Sharma looks comfortable as full-time captain

Rohit Sharma’s Test journey as captain began on a winning note. Pic: BCCI

Former opener Wasim Jaffer has opined that Rohit Sharma looks rather comfortable as full-time captain of the Indian team, although he has taken up the post recently.

After leading the team to white-ball triumphs over West Indies and Sri Lanka, Rohit began his stint as full-time Test captain with a thumping victory over the Lankans. The hosts defeated the island nation by an innings and 222 runs in Mohali on Sunday.

Although these are still early days in Rohit's career as full-time captain of the country, Jaffer is highly impressed with what he has seen so far. During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, he said:

"He has been doing captaincy in the shorter formats for a long time and I think he is comfortable. Lot of players are comfortable with Rohit Sharma's captaincy. He gives them a lot of freedom. He got his field placings and bowling changes absolutely spot on. He was spot on with playing Vihari as well. I liked that."

The 44-year-old described Rohit's decision to enforce the follow-on as a highly positive move. He added:

"Rohit enforced the follow-on and did not drag the Test, just for the sake of it, to the fourth and fifth day. It's a very positive way of leading. You can see the smiling faces in the Indian camp and that is something nice to see."

Responding to India’s first-innings total of 574 for 8 declared, Sri Lanka succumbed to 174 in their first innings. Asked to follow-on, the visitors managed only 178 in their second essay, folding up in 60 overs.

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"Jadeja is showing that he is an A+ category player" - Wasim Jaffer hails Team India all-rounder

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the standout performer for India in Mohali. He smashed an unbeaten 175 with the bat and followed it up by claiming nine wickets.

According to Jaffer, Jadeja is proving with his performances that he deserves to be in the highest category when it comes to BCCI contracts. The former cricketer elaborated:

"Jadeja is showing that he is an A+ category player as far as the contract goes. He is not there yet. But I think performance-wise and, given his skill level as a batter and a bowler, he can win you games on his batting, in India especially.

"And he can win you series' as a bowler. He is going from strength to strength. He is a three-format player. It is just wonderful to see the way he showcases his skills and wins you Test matches."

Jadeja was named in Grade A as BCCI recently announced their central contracts. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are the only players in Grade A+ category (₹7 crore).

Apart from Jadeja, the Grade A list (₹5 crore) features KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Shami.