The 'superstar culture' in Indian cricket sees Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma sitting at the top pedestal, alongside the 'king' Virat Kohli. Quite often, social media wars between Kohli and Rohit's fans keep cricket lovers engaged. While the duo seem to be nearing the pinnacle of their respective careers, there's still no dip in their fan following. Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, who was in Nagpur for the first ODI between Rohit and Jos Buttler's teams, summed up the 'aura' of Rohit after he witnessed the England team's reaction to an incident.
In a chat after the match, Pietersen highlighted the sort of attention and respect Rohit commands, not just from Team India's fans but also from opponents. Narrating an incident, Pietersen revealed that the fans roared as Rohit came out of the dressing room, forcing even the England team to stand up and take notice.
"Honestly, it's unbelievable. Rohit Sharma exits the dressing room, and the crowd goes absolutely mental. It's remarkable how big stars these guys are. That's why he re-emphasised the point; enjoy these stars while they are around. Look at the emotions in the entire stadium when a guy like Rohit Sharma walks down those steps," Pietersen told the broadcaster in Nagpur.
"Can I tell you something. When Rohit Sharma walked down, we had visuals of the England dressing room. When the whole crowd went up, all of the England team started staring at him. That's intimidating, that's aura, and that's something he created; not because he's Rohit Sharma, but because of the runs he scored, because of his average," he added.
Rohit Hails India's Middle-Order Stars
Rohit was extremely happy with the way India played the first ODI, securing a 4-wicket win. Axar Patel, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer were the stars of the match for the hosts.
"Pretty happy because we knew we were coming after a long time to this format. We wanted to quickly regroup and understand what is to be done. Didn't start off well with their openers putting pressure on us, but the way we came back was superb. This is a slightly longer format where you have time to come back. When things start to go away from you, it doesn't mean it will keep going away. Credit to the bowlers, everyone chipped in. It was important for us to keep us going, we took wickets at crucial time, the energy on the field was brilliant as well," Rohit said after the game.
Rohit further added that Axar and Shubman shined when they needed a partnership the most.
"[Axar at No. 5] We want a lefty in the middle, it is simple. We know they have a couple of spinners who are going to bowl into the left-handers and we wanted one out there. Axar is an improved batter in the last couple of years, we got to see that today. We needed a partnership and Gill and Axar batted really well...," he added.