European T20 Premier League: Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes said India’s ODI captain Shubman Gill must embrace support from senior stars such as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli while staying true to his leadership style. Rhodes backed the youngster to thrive as a skipper despite the intense pressures of international captaincy.
Since replacing Rohit as India’s ODI captain in October last year, Gill has won six games while losing as many matches, with a 50 per cent win percentage. "The key with being a leader is understanding that you've got these senior players around you, and it's not a negative mark on your captaincy if you ask around for help, or for opinions and ideas.
“Obviously, as the leader and the captain, you have to make the final choice. That's often the hardest thing about captaining so many experienced players, they all give you great options, but you now have to make the call. So, having the likes of Rohit and Virat in your setup, and Shubman has been pretty consistent in his energy levels, the way that he conducts himself as a captain, and prior to that, as a player, it's all very consistent.
“As long as he's not trying to be anybody else, which is impossible, because when you're under pressure, you always revert back to who you really are. He's gotten to that stride very quickly," Rhodes told JioStar.
Rhodes, currently the co-owner of the Rotterdam Dockers in the inaugural European T20 Premier League, noted that teams travelling to Southern Africa for the 2027 tournament, to be co-hosted by South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, will need to adapt quickly to varying conditions across venues.
"It's interesting because what is impacted in the field is often the altitude. If you play at the coast, it's different to playing in Johannesburg or Pretoria, where altitude affects it. Similar to what we're trying to do with the ETPL, bringing cricket into Europe, we've also got Namibia and Zimbabwe, who are co-hosting the Cricket World Cup.
“The wickets in South Africa are pretty good, so there is not going to be much contest between bat and ball. There is good carry. I think from a point of view where you can hit down the line or through the line of the ball, as opposed to using the pace to run the ball down, the Indian players ramp the ball so well. They get inside and scoop the ball so well, so they've adapted really quickly to the modern world of cricket," he added.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest fielders in the history of the game, Rhodes gained global fame for his iconic diving run-out of Inzamam-ul-Haq at the 1992 World Cup. However, he revealed that his most cherished personal memory came a year later in Mumbai, during a match against the West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium.
“The wickets in South Africa are pretty good, so there is not going to be much contest between bat and ball. There is good carry. I think from a point of view where you can hit down the line or through the line of the ball, as opposed to using the pace to run the ball down, the Indian players ramp the ball so well. They get inside and scoop the ball so well, so they've adapted really quickly to the modern world of cricket," he added.
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“I took five catches, which afterwards I was told was a world record for fielding. I didn't even know there were records for fielding, it was just something that I loved doing. You kind of expect adoration and support in your own country, but when you're touring, and it was a neutral venue, we weren't playing against India. So, having 20,000 Indian fans chanting, 'Jonty, Jonty,' was something I will never, ever forget," he concluded.