India captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said becoming the skipper of India across all formats has meant that he has got many challenges to look forward to.
On Saturday, with Sharma named as the Test captain of India in two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, it meant that the 34-year-old taking over the captaincy mantle from Virat Kohli was completed.
"It's a huge honour and a great feeling to be captaining India in all three forms. I have a lot of challenges to look forward to now. Once the opportunity came through, I was glad and very happy to be captaining the team. We have got a solid bunch of guys and looking forward to lead them on the park and see what we can create on the field," said Sharma in the virtual press conference.
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Asked about his role of grooming the future leaders in the side, as said by chief selector Chetan Sharma on Saturday, Sharma explained, "I won't have that much role of telling them each and everything. They all are mature cricketers but it's just that someone needs to be around to help and guide them in a difficult situation.
"I will be more than happy to do that. That is how we have grown up and come into the ranks of becoming captain. We were groomed by someone else. So, it's a natural process, everyone goes through this and we are no different here, we are same," he said.
Sharma also pointed towards pacer Jasprit Bumrah, batter KL Rahul and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant as the future leadership picks.
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"If you talk of Bumrah, KL, Pant, all these guys have a big role to play in India's success. At the same time, they are looked upon as leaders. They do understand what they need to do as individuals and the responsibility on their shoulders. We don't want to put pressure on these guys as they are very critical for us," stated the 34-year-old.
"At the moment, we want them to enjoy their game, come out freely and execute their skills," he added further.
With Sharma being appointed as India's all-format captain, managing his workload in a busy year, especially with him getting injured in the past before the start of a tour, becomes very important. It is a point which Sharma himself agreed to, of managing his workload as well as of the other members in the team.
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"I am very clear in my mind on how I want to take this forward. Obviously, not just managing the workload, not just me, but everyone will be the key moving forward. We have seen a lot of injuries happening in our squad. We just have to be very careful with what we do with the individuals, how we rotate them and give them that break time they need from the game," said Rohit.
He continued, "So, we are trying to manage that and put a roadmap on the sidelines as to how we have to move forward. As far as I am concerned, there are no issues. I am looking forward to play all the games and the workload always depends on what happens thereafter. You take it day by day and understand what you need to do."
"If there is an opportunity to take a break, you will take a break and like, someone gets in and look to see how the other guy who can fill in, what sort of potential he has. Those are the things. But at the moment, it seems to be okay," concluded Sharma.
