"Looking at this team like a father figure" - Ajay Jadeja praises Rohit Sharma for giving up opening spot in 3rd India vs West Indies T20I 

Former player Ajay Jadeja on Sunday lauded Indian men's captain Rohit Sharma for giving up his opening spot to youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad in the third T20I against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He praised Sharma as a 'magnanimous man' and a selfless captain looking at his team as a 'father figure'.

India made four changes for the dead rubber, resting regular No. 3 batter Virat Kohli and including Gaikwad, who has made his name as an opener in the IPL. Many expected the 25-year-old to replace Kohli at No. 3. However, at the toss, Sharma said that Gaikwad would open alongside Ishan Kishan.

In an interaction with Cricbuzz, Jadeja said about the same:

"Rohit Sharma is a magnanimous man; he's the captain now, so he's looking to take these new kids on the block... I think Rohit is above just himself. I mean, he's not looking at a number; he's not looking just to score runs. He's looking at this team like a father figure. and he wants these new kids to get a better opportunity."

Jadeja believes that the decision to bring himself down the order probably came about from the experiences and hardships he faced as a youngster. He said the 34-year-old doesn't want his teammates to go through the same. Jadeja added:

"I think what happens is you always have a memory of your own starting days, younger days. No matter how big a player you become, there will always be a start that you had. And some people believe that whatever they had, everybody should go through that."

"They are among the tough guys, and I feel Rohit is among the opposite of human beings who believes, 'The things had to rough it out; now that I have the opportunity, let me change that a bit.' And I see that in Rohit Sharma and the way he's leading. Hence he's given up his own opening spot as well, which not many players give up, especially in Indian cricket because who doesn't want to open in India?"

Rohit Sharma started his career as a fluent but inconsistent middle-order batter till MS Dhoni tried him out at the top of the order.

He has been India's best opener since then, and is certain to continue at the spot at the upcoming T20 and 50-over World Cups.

Gaikwad, meanwhile, still has a long way to go to cement his place in the white-ball team. However, asking the youngster to open could be the team management's way of trying out something new.

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Ruturaj Gaikwad struggles, Rohit Sharma scores 7

The experiment to promote Gaikwad didn't reap fruits immediately, as he got out for 4 (8). Rohit Sharma didn't come out to bat at No. 3 either, allowing Shreyas Iyer to come out instead. However, even the captain looked far from his best and got out after a sedate 15-ball seven.

India, however, recovered well from the shaky start to set a target of 185 for the visitors.