Former India spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin believes India’s evolution right into a white-ball powerhouse did not start with Gautam Gambhir — however Gambhir is definitely benefiting from it. At the same time as questions swirl round his early red-ball teaching stint, India’s shorter-format success has stayed intact, highlighted by the 2025 Champions Trophy triumph. And to Ashwin, that continuity exists as a result of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid had already rebuilt India’s batting DNA lengthy earlier than Gambhir stepped into the dressing room.
In response to him, the roots of India’s present aggression hint straight again to the Rohit-Dravid period, as a result of the captain–coach duo did not simply speak about intent, however lived it.
“Rohit as a captain has at all times been laying his stamp by exhibiting the staff what he needs from it. The transitional batting that India has gone via in T20 cricket and ODI cricket — the way in which we bat quick — a whole lot of credit score for that goes to Rohit and Rahul bhai,” Ashwin stated.
“They confirmed the way in which Rahul bhai stated that is how now we have to play and Rohit confirmed the way in which. Finally it has modified how Indians understand batting. Batting is just not common; it’s purely strike fee in white-ball cricket,” he added.
And proof of that? Nicely, India’s 2024 T20 World Cup title was a spotlight reel of that philosophy.
The blueprint that powered a World Cup
Underneath Rohit and Dravid, India lastly deserted the slow-start safety-first template. As an alternative, they unleashed a model of Rohit Sharma who batted like he had been storing intent for a decade.
Rohit completed the 2024 T20 World Cup with 257 runs at a strike fee above 156, headlining India’s cost. His 92 off 41 in opposition to Australia in St. Lucia wasn’t only a knock — it was a public announcement of the brand new India. Then got here 57 within the semi-final in opposition to England on a pitch that appeared allergic to strokeplay. At each flip, Rohit units the tone: hit early, hit fearlessly, hit earlier than the opposition will get a say.
Ashwin believes that vitality did not fade with the change in management — it merely handed on.
A philosophy handed from one Sharma to a different
If Rohit Sharma gave Indian cricket the template, then Abhishek Sharma appears like the coed who photocopied the handbook and underlined the aggressive components in neon ink. Nobody embodied India’s new white-ball id in 2025 fairly like him.
Throughout the Asia Cup 2025, Abhishek went on a scoring spree that might make even seasoned openers blink:
314 runs in seven matches, common 44.85, strike fee 200 — numbers that scream intent, not warning.
What stood out wasn’t simply the quantity of his runs however the volatility he introduced with them, the identical spirit Rohit channeled in 2024. Abhishek did not care which bowler he confronted, he performed himself out of the opposition’s plans. Each opening over appeared like a dare. Each powerplay felt like a problem for him to hit the ball so far as attainable, with the stamp of “that is precisely how India wish to begin.”
The similarities with Rohit’s World Cup batting weren’t refined both:
- Each attacked the primary 12 balls like they have been the final 12.
- Each managed innings via momentum, not milestones.
- Each pressured bowlers into defensive fields in what was once settling overs.
Abhishek could also be a brand new face, however his cricketing DNA reads like it’s nonetheless embossed with Rohit Sharma’s powerplay blueprint. And that, for Ashwin, is the true win: when a philosophy survives the individuals who created it.
Cherish the icons earlier than you’ll be able to’t
Ashwin additionally reminded followers that whereas the brand new era is prospering, the outdated guard continues to be right here — and deserves to be loved, not taken without any consideration.
“How a lot time now we have to observe and revel in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bat, please let’s do it as soon as they’re performed, we are going to hear individuals say ‘carry him again’. For nonetheless lengthy they play, allow us to have a good time them,” Ashwin stated.
He added, “Life strikes on very quick. Time doesn’t anticipate anybody. It’s important that we notice that the time is much less, so it’s higher that we take pleasure in no matter they’re doing.”
And as Ashwin sees it, India’s white-ball future feels thrilling as a result of its previous was constructed on courageous selections, one thing India must hold intact with the 2026 T20 World Cup simply across the nook.
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