Ahead of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, former Indian skipper, Anil Kumble recalled the 2013 edition in which he served as Mumbai Indians (MI) mentor. The veteran bowler recalled an anecdote regarding Rohit Sharma’s leadership style in that season. Notably, it was Rohit’s first IPL season as the captain of the franchise.

Kumble said that Rohit didn’t mince his words. The 52-year-old added that Rohit had a lot of experience around him. He also spoke about the Indian skipper’s leadership during the 2017 IPL season with a new team.

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During a chat on ‘Insiders Preview -Rohit Sharma’ show on JioCinema, Anil Kumble said, “He was not afraid to say what he had to say. He had plenty of experience around him and he reached out to them as well but then took his own decisions. That’s what you want from a captain. 2017 was a new team and the kind of captaincy we saw from him in terms of defending low scores, that’s when your true leadership comes out.”

Anil Kumble went on to say that he wanted Rohit Sharma to bat at number four in the upcoming season of the cash-rich league. He opined that the middle order of the MI team needed some experienced batters.

Explaining the same, Anil Kumble said, “Especially with the current MI team, you need that experience in the middle order. There are some wonderful batters that MI possess, but I think someone like Rohit Sharma in the middle, controlling seven to fifteen overs is extremely critical.”

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Rohit Sharma is the most successful captain in the history of IPL, leading Mumbai Indians to five title wins. The 35-year-old batter who joined MI in 2011 is raring up for the upcoming edition to clinch a historic sixth IPL title for the franchise. The five-time champions will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their first match of the season at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 2.