The former Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is set to make a comeback in the upcoming ODI series against Australia, which is going to start from 19th October. He made his first appearance since his removal from captaincy at the CEAT cricket rating awards in Mumbai.m
As he entered the room, the attendees were in awe and captivated by Rohit’s remarkable transformation. His dedication and hard work in fitness were reflected brightly. He confidently donned a stylish black suit.
The 3 times double-century holder and the most prominent opener of this decade shared his excitement about the upcoming series against Australia and said the only motive is winning.
He also stressed the importance of a team mentality developed by himself and Rahul Dravid. Rohit explained how India achieved consistency on the international level and won back-to-back ICC titles - the 2024 T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy in 2025. “All of the guys who participated in that competition adopted the mindset that we should challenge ourselves, win games, and not be complacent or take anything for granted. Those were the values we attempted to promote, and we believed it was a decent approach of simply going and doing it repeatedly," he said.
Here is a video link of Rohit Sharma’s speech
The former skipper also highlighted the unity and a strong team culture and addressed how they take one game at a time. “Once we got over the line when we won the first game, we completely put that game aside and then started focusing on the next one,” he said.
Rohit opens up on team bond, skips captaincy talk
However, he did not talk much about the captaincy removal. Addressing his love for the team, he said, "Look, I love that team, I enjoyed playing with them, and it was a journey that we all shared for many years. It's not just one or two years of labor. "It was about getting into work after many years.”
The latest former captain is set to make a comeback in international cricket after 8 months, under Shubhman Gill. Talking about his mindset for the upcoming series against Australia, he said, "I enjoy playing against them. I really enjoy traveling to Australia. It's a challenging nation to play cricket in. People there enjoy the game as well. However, Australia presents an unusual challenge each time they play against us. Having been there multiple times, I know what to anticipate. Hopefully, we can go there and perform what the Indian team is supposed to do and achieve the outcome in our favor."
The star-filled award ceremony also had prominent Indian batters like Sanju Samson and the new ODI vice-captain, Shreyas Iyer.
Veteran Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar was also present at the ceremony. He awarded the Ceat lifetime achievement award to Brian Lara and also presented a memento to Rohit Sharma for winning the Champions Trophy 2025.
