Anil Kumble Remembers The Time When Rohit Sharma Was Made MI Captain

The most loved and successful IPL captain for Mumbai Indians Rohit Sharma, assumed his position as the captain I the middle of an IPL season. Not just that, the “Shaana” as their team likes to call him was actually 25 years old when he did so. 

Rohit had then moved on to win several accolades for the team, giving them the “winners trophy” for 5 times. At 5 wins, MI shares the highest number of IPL wins with CSK. All of this was obviously possible only under Rohit’s captaincy. 

Anil Kumble, the then-mentor for MI has spoken about the time when Rohit became the captain. Sharma had replaced the legendary Ricky Ponting after 6 matches into the season. Rohit’s MI won the IPL five times in seven years between 2013 and 2020 and the franchise never won the title before he was skipper. 

Anil Kumble reveals how Rohit became the captain.

One of the most important decisions in the league’s history was made by MI when they named Rohit their captain, albeit it came as a complete surprise with little fanfare during the 2013 season.

Spin legend Anil Kumble shared that the original decision was to make aging player Ricky Ponting the next captain. However, with just 6 matches in, Kumble and coach John Wright realised that Ponting’s form was not the best at the time. MI had lost 3 of the 6 matches, leading to the decision about changing their captain.

“The entire plan was to get Ricky in as captain. There was a bit of a concern about he would go in the T20 format since he was at the back end of his career. Great player, a legend, but towards the back end there is always concern,” Kumble told India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in a chat on Youtube.

“For me it was important that someone who has won a World Cup (captains the team). The team in Mumbai had everything. All it needed was someone who has been there, done that, which is why we chose Ricky at the auction and made him captain. But once the first few games didn’t go well, there was pressure to make a change” Kumble added. 

Rohit was confident about assuming the new position -Anil

Talking about the exact moment when MI’s then coach John Wright and Anil Kumble approached Rohit Sharma for the captaincy position around their match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

“Ricky was kind of to step aside and that is when we decided that we will go for Rohit. What was very evident when John Wright and I walked into his room in Kolkata, we were playing KKR, he was extremely confident.”

“There was no hesitation when we asked him if he was ready to captain, despite all these big names being a part of the team. That stood out. That is what you want. If there is no hesitation when you ask for the first time if you are ready to take the responsibility, that gives it all and Rohit was very clear that he was ready to take over.” added Kumble.

Alls well that ends well, as MI proceeded to win their match against KKR in Kolkata’s home ground by 5 wickets. That was also the first year when MI beat CSK at finals to win their first IPL trophy. 

Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Instagram