India pacer Khaleel Ahmed has opened up about his admiration for Rohit Sharma, both as a captain and as a person. In an exclusive interview with Boria Majumdar on RevSportz, Khaleel shared his personal experiences, highlighting how Rohit has left a lasting impression on him since his early days. The pacer made both his ODI and T20I debuts for India under Rohit’s captaincy.
He also expressed his personal belief that the veteran batter should continue playing for the next decade. “I feel Rohit Sharma should play for the next 10 years for the good of Indian cricket and that’s my personal feeling,” Khaleel said.
He recalled an incident from 2019 during a series against Bangladesh in Rajkot. “When in 2019, we were playing a series against Bangladesh in Rajkot, once I didn’t have a great day and only got one wicket, so he came to me and spoke to me personally in the dressing room. The team was leaving the stadium and he stayed back to have a one-on-one with me and told me how I should be. He told me that I am unaware of my own capabilities.”
Khaleel remembered how Rohit encouraged him even outside the stadium. “When we were getting out of the stadium, all the fans were screaming for Rohit bhai and he told me that ‘all of this should happen for you too’ and that I should wish that for myself and stay positive.”
Speaking of Rohit’s empathy, Khaleel added, “A captain like him, talking to me like that after the match, made me wonder how kind a person he was. I’ve seen him do the same thing with Rishabh (Pant). ‘What a man! What a captain!’ I would say. People don’t even look at you when you have a bad match but as a captain he is something else.”
Khaleel also shared one of his recent interactions with Rohit. “Recently I met him at the NCA (Centre of Excellence) during the Duleep Trophy and he looked very fit so I asked him to stay like that and keep playing. I have hardly seen such a captain and person in my life, he is a gem and I have a lot of respect and love for him. It’s not possible to express everything in this short interview.”
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