'Ponting actually was player-cum-coach during the 2013 season. He was always there to help me'
Opening batsman Rohit Sharma, on Monday, heaped praise on Ricky Ponting, saying that the former Australian skipper is from another planet and knows how to bring out the best in everyone.
Rohit was doing an Instagram Live session with spinner Ravichandran Ashwin when the right-handed Rohit was asked to talk about the leadership stint with the Mumbai Indians.
"I feel Ponting is a guy from another planet. He knows how to bring out the best in someone. He has won two World Cups for Australia. So he knows how to win Championships," Rohit told Ashwin.
"In 2013, we got Ricky Ponting in the auction. In 2012 Sachin paaji said that he would not lead Mumbai Indians and Bhajju paa (Harbhajan) was made the skipper. But in 2013, I don't know why Bhajju paa wasn't the captain. And I thought I will be made the captain, but then Ponting was bought in the auction," said Rohit.
"Ponting was the first one to arrive in India for 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 motivated the younger guys," he added.
Ricky Ponting was the coach of Mumbai Indians for three seasons and Rohit spent a lot of time with the former Australian skipper.
Rohit further talked about how Ponting stepped down as the skipper after not scoring runs in the first six matches of the IPL 2013.
"But then he was not scoring runs, he decided to step down as the skipper, but eventually Ponting called me and I was given the captaincy. Ponting actually was player-cum-coach during the 2013 season. He was always there to help me," Rohit said.
Mumbai Indians has won the IPL maximum number of times. The side has managed to win the tournament four times -- 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019.
Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by one run in the finals of the 2019 IPL. All the title wins have come under the leadership of Rohit.
Rohit also recalled his first double century in ODI cricket and said that there is extra motivation to perform well against Australia when the right-handed batsman was asked to talk about his first ODI double century. Rohit had played a knock of 209 against Australia in 2013 in the final ODI to guide India to a series win over Australia.
Talking about this innings, Rohit said: "I know it was an important series for us, I had just started opening the batting for India. We had played the Champions Trophy and then we toured West Indies. After these two, we played the series against Australia, it was a good challenge for me to face this team. You always want to perform well against Australia. During Jaipur ODI, Yuvraj Singh told me that I have a good opportunity to show my skills and score big hundreds."
"It was quite a contest between both the sides in the 2013 series, Australia never gives up easily, they go an extra mile to win the match, it was a hard-fought series, Bengaluru ODI was the decider for us, I never thought I will score 200 in an ODI, the pitch was flat and ball was coming easily on to the bat. There was a halt due to the rain, it was my responsibility to score the runs as Shikhar and Virat were dismissed cheaply," he added.
Rohit further explained his knock and said that the then skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni kept on guiding him through the knock of 209 against Australia.
"With Raina, I had a good partnership, then MS Dhoni and I batted till the end, I got dismissed in the second last over of the innings, MS kept on telling me that he wants me to bat till the last over," Rohit added.
In the match against Australia in 2013, India was batting first and Rohit was slow off the mark and he took his time in building the innings.
However, as soon as he got the scheme of things, Rohit started to go after the spin bowlers and in no time went past the 100-run mark.
After reaching his century, he shifted gears and went on to bring up his first double century in ODIs. He went on to play a knock of 209 off just 158 balls.
This innings helped India post 383 runs on the board, and the effort helped the side win the match by 57 runs.
In the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Rohit Sharma finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer after registering 648 runs from just nine matches at an average of 81.00.
During the tournament, he also became the first batsman to score five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup.
Rohit, who is now the vice-captain of the ODI team, has played 224 ODIs, 108 T20Is, and 32 Tests so far. The limited-overs vice-captain has scored 14,029 runs across all formats.
Rohit is the only player in the world to have three double tons to his name in ODI cricket. He also holds the record for the highest individual score in the 50-over format for his knock of 264 runs against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens.
In the longest format, he has reinvented himself and has started opening the batting in Test cricket since last year.
