"I look at him as a crisis man" - Rohit Sharma heaps massive praise on Team India teammate amid IPL 2025

Star Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Indian teammate KL Rahul amid the ongoing IPL 2025 season. Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday, May 7.

In a recent interview with journalist Vimal Kumar, Rohit Sharma was asked about the criticism aimed at KL Rahul. Rohit said that Rahul has been an important player in the past few years and looks at him as a crisis man. He lauded Rahul for putting his hand up and doing whatever the team needed of him, saying:

"Pichle do teen saalo mai toh mere liye important player rahe hai woh. I look at him as a crisis man. Jaha pe humko KL se kuch karvana tha toh KL ne haath uthaya." (In the last two-three years, he has been an important player for me. I look at him as a crisis man. Wherever we needed KL to do something, he has raised his hand.)

"Keeping karna hai, chalo mai karta hu. Yaha pe batting karna hai, karta hu." (Have to do keeping, he will do it. Have to bat anywhere, he will do it.)

Watch the clip of the interview posted by a user on X (Twitter) below -

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Rohit Sharma says criticism does not affect him or the players

While talking about the criticism of KL Rahul and other players during the interview, Rohit Sharma said that it does not affect him or most of the players anymore. He said that players would be sitting at home if it affected them.

"Mai abhi thak gaya hu yaar. Agar affect karti hoti na, toh player abhi ghar mai baitha hota, bistar mai apne so raha hota ki yaar mereko criticize kiya ja raha hai mai nahi khel sakta hu yeh ho raha hai mere saath. Puri duniya mere khilaf hai. Thick skin bolte hai na jisko, yeh saare players mai inbuilt hai." (I am tired of this. If it affected, then the player would be sitting at home. He would be on his bed thinking I am being criticized, I cannot play all this is happening with me. The whole world is against me. Being thick-skinned is inbuilt in players.)

"Mai yeh nahi bol sakta hu ki puri tarike se affect nahi karti hai. Kisi ko karti hogi kisi ko nahi karti hogi. Mereko toh kuch nahi hota hai. Abhi time bhi hogaya na itna." (I cannot say that it does not affect at all. It may affect some and it may not to others. Nothing happens to me. It has been a long time since I am playing now.)

Rohit Sharma is currently playing for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL 2025 season. Having now retired from Tests as well as T20Is, he will only feature in ODI cricket for India, where he is expected to continue leading the side.