Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, the IPL's most successful team has revealed that he felt that he would be made captain after Harbhajan Singh in the 2013 IPL, but the team bought Australian veteran Ricky Ponting in the auction and made him captain. Rohit Sharma, imprisoned in the house amidst the havoc of Coronavirus, said this during an Instagram chat with Indian spinner R Ashwin. In this chat, he also explained why Ricky Ponting left the captaincy of the IPL in the middle of the season.
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Rohit Sharma said "In the 2013 auction we bought Ricky Ponting. In IPL 2012, Sachin Tendulkar refused to lead the Mumbai team, after which Harbhajan Singh was made the captain." Rohit added "But don't know why Bhajji Pajji was not made the captain in 2013. I thought I would be made the captain now, but then bought Ricky Ponting in the auction."
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Rohit said "Ponting was the first person to come to India in the 2013 season. He wanted to understand everyone. He said that he wanted to have a team bonding session first. In a way, it made a very positive impact on everyone. Ponting really inspired young people." Upon Ponting leaving the captaincy in the middle of the season, he said "He was not scoring, so he decided to step down as captain. Eventually, Ponting called me and handed me the captaincy. He was a player during the 2013 season." There was a coach as well. He was always there to help me." After Rohit became the captain, Mumbai Indians have won the IPL title four times. Mumbai won the first title in 2013 itself. He then won in 2015, 2017 and again in 2019.
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Apart from Rohit, Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma has also praised Ricky Ponting's coaching. Ishant said, "I have not seen a better coach than Ricky. I was quite nervous while returning to the IPL last season. It seemed that I am debuting in cricket. He made me feel comfortable from day one and said that as a senior I have to help junior bowlers. I benefited greatly from that."
