MC Exclusive I Don’t be in awe of any player: Captain Rohit Sharma’s special motivational class for Yashasvi Jaiswal

"...Never ever think that someone has done any favour to you where you have reached today. You have come a long way in such a short time, and it is because of your ability and confidence,” Rohit Sharma was heard saying to young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Windsor Park, (Roseau, Dominica): It is a rarity in Indian cricket when Test captains announce the combination a day before an important game of a Test series. Rohit Sharma just did that early Tuesday morning (local Caribbean time) at his team hotel Inter-Continental which is almost a 90 minutes drive from the ground.

Both the teams did not get an opportunity to train on the ground on the eve of the game because of persistent rain, which is likely to affect the whole Test match. The Indian captain knows that there are no Test series scheduled until the very last week in December later this year and nobody knows what direction the Indian Test team may take. The obvious reason is how India performs at home World Cup (ODI) in October-November.

However, the Indian captain is aware that time has come for generational change in Test cricket as the core of the last decade (and arguably the most successful team in the history of Indian Test cricket) are all on the wrong side of mid-30s, which includes the formidable trio of captain, former captain Virat Kohli and current vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane besides the veteran spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Of course, the likes of Umesh Yadav and Cheteshwar Pujara have been dropped while another veteran Mohammed Shami has been rested from the touring party. In the backdrop of this, it was quite fascinating to first-hand witness the motivational class of the captain who was talking to fellow Mumbaikar Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is all set to make his debut on Wednesday.

The sagacious advice

“Do not be in awe of any player. Whether it’s me, your captain, or senior players or coach or opposition. Do not get overwhelmed by the occasion of the highest platform which is Test cricket. Never ever think that someone has done any favour to you where you have reached today. You have come a long way in such a short time, and it is because of your ability and confidence,” the Indian captain was heard saying to his young opener who will start the proceedings with him on Wednesday. The Southpaw who averages 80 in first-class cricket has scored nine centuries in 15 matches and we are not even talking about his phenomenal IPL 2023 season which put him into the limelight.

The Indian captain spoke for nearly half an hour during one of the net sessions here and continued in his inimitable style of motivating a young talent. Perhaps, the captain knows a thing or two on how to deal with the burden of expectations as for a long period of time there was pressure on him to justify his “abundance” of natural talent.

“Listen, you are boss or King when you are facing a bowler. No one comes there to help you. You are on your own but this is not something new for you or any cricketer. We all are our own when we face a bowler. The only thing which helps us is our focus and concentration and the belief that what has worked for me so far will take me forward in taking the new step. Your friends and teammates and well-wishers will give you a lot of advice and suggestions and while all may be well-intended you should be able to decide yourself what you must implement and what you may have to leave for the future. It is a journey of continued learning,” said the Indian captain to Jaiswal, who was nodding and listening as a keen student.

Chilled out

However, the good thing about the Indian captain is that he is not a very serious kind of person. He is one of the chilled-out boys of this young team. That is why immediately after giving him some thought-provoking motivational speech, Sharma also started pulling his legs when some of the teammates were passing by after finishing their stint.

Even during the press conference of Ajinkya Rahane, the captain became a ‘reporter’ for a few minutes and when Jaiswal was hitting those lofted drives he was jokingly screaming-“Abey, Jaiswal kya kar raha hai? Aise marege! (What are you doing man, will you be so adventurous in matches?) And then everyone laughed including the media and all the players. Welcome to the Rohit Sharma school of motivational classes!