'You can see the smiling faces in the Indian camp' - Wasim Jaffer lavishes praises on skipper Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma’s first assignment as Test skipper couldn’t have panned out better as India thrashed Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs in Mohali. It was indeed a comprehensive victory as the opening Test concluded within three days.  While Rohit, who scored 29, couldn’t make a significant impact with the bat, he was spot on with his decision-making.

Notably, these are still Rohit’s early days as full-time captain across formats. However, he has made a phenomenal start to his tenure. After taking the full-time role, the 34-year-old has led India in 13 games across formats, taking the side to victory every single time. Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer is mighty impressed with the veteran opener as he lavished massive praises on his leadership skills.

Rohit Sharma gives players a lot of freedom: Wasim Jaffer

“He has been doing captaincy in the shorter formats for a long time and I think he is comfortable. A lot of players are comfortable with Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. He gives them a lot of freedom. He got his field placings and bowling changes absolutely spot on. He was spot on with playing Vihari as well. I liked that,” Jaffer said during a discussion on ESPNcricinfo.

The 44-year-old further said Rohit’s decision to enforce follow-on was highly positive. “Rohit enforced the follow-on and did not drag the Test, just for the sake of it, to the fourth and fifth day. It’s a very positive way of leading. You can see the smiling faces in the Indian camp and that is something nice to see,” he added.

Meanwhile, the opening Test in Mohali belonged to Ravindra Jadeja, who was at his all-round best. While the southpaw scored a breathtaking 175 not out in India’s first innings, he scalped a total of nine wickets in the contest. Lauding the all-rounder’s stellar show, Jaffer said Jadeja deserves to be in the highest category in BCCI’s annual contracts.

“Jadeja is showing that he is an A+ category player as far as the contract goes. He is not there yet. But I think performance-wise and, given his skill level as a batter and a bowler, he can win you games on his batting, in India especially,” said Jaffer.