"Don't want to say who is a better captain" - When Gautam Gambhir compared Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as leaders 

Despite his amazing success in the IPL, Rohit Sharma was always expected to find it tough stepping into Virat Kohli's shoes as a leader, especially in the Test format. Rohit began his stint impressively and even guided the team to the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final, which they lost to Australia.

Cut to present and Rohit is under fire for failing to deliver both as captain and batter in Test cricket. A number of critics and fans have compared his lackluster showing with that of Kohli's impressive performance during his reign as leader.

Speaking to Star Sports in 2023, former India batter and current head coach Gautam Gambhir shared his thoughts on Rohit and Kohli's captaincy. He had opined that both were similar leaders and even stated that the former was carrying forward the same template that was built by his predecessor for the Test format.

"Honestly, I have always believed that Rohit Sharma is an amazing captain, but there is not much difference between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's captaincy, especially in this format. Virat Kohli started this template," Gambhir had said.

"Virat Kohli has captained exceptionally well whenever he has captained this Test team and Rohit is probably following that template only. Honestly, Rohit has not created his own template. The way Virat Kohli managed Ashwin and Jadeja, it is absolutely identical captaincy," he had gone on to add.

The 43-year-old had also opined that Rohit's real challenge as Test skipper would come in countries like Australia, South Africa, and England, where Kohli managed to taste reasonable success as captain.

"Virat Kohli was as successful. So I don't see too much difference and I don't even want to say who is a better captain in these conditions because Virat was an equally good captain as Rohit is now. Rohit's challenge will be overseas," the former left-handed batter had commented.

Incidentally, Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as India's all-format coach after the latter's stint ended following the Men in Blue's triumph in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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Rohit Sharma's record as Test captain

While Rohit made a decent start to his Test captaincy stint, things have gone horribly wrong for him in the second half of 2024. He was the leader when India were whitewashed 3-0 at home by New Zealand - a first in the team's Test history. Under him, India have lost two Tests during the ongoing BGT 2024-25.

Overall, the 37-year-old has led India in 24 Test matches out of which the team has won 12 and lost nine, while three games have ended in a draw. Under his leadership, India lost six Test matches in 2024.