Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma observed that outgoing captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s “decision” to make him open the batting in the One-Day International format changed his career, PTI reported on Wednesday.
“I believe the decision to open in ODIs changed my career and it was a decision taken by MS Dhoni,” said the 29-year-old. “I became a better batsman after that. In fact, it helped me understand my game better, react better according to situations.”
He first opened in early 2013 against England during the home series and followed that up with an impressive performance in the Champions Trophy.
“He (Dhoni) just came up to me and said ‘I want you to open the innings as I am confident that you will do well. Since you can play both cut and pull shot well, you have the qualities to succeed as an opener’,” added the opener.
“He told me that I shouldn’t be scared of failures or get upset by criticism. He was looking at the bigger picture as the Champions Trophy was scheduled in England that year,” said Sharma, the only player in world cricket with two double hundreds in ODIs.
