"I remember once around 2am, Rohit Sharma texted me"- Piyush Chawla shares lesser-known story from IPL 2023 

Mumbai Indians leg-spinner Piyush Chawla shared his experience of playing under Rohit Sharma's captaincy in IPL 2023. Chawla was MI's lead spinner and Rohit once texted him very early in the morning to discuss a strategy before a match.

In a chat with Shubhankar Mishra, Piyush Chawla recalled the incident from IPL 2023 when Rohit came with a piece of paper to discuss the plan to dismiss a batter in their upcoming match.

Chawla did not exactly remember the batter's name, but he recollected Rohit's message to him and said:

"I remember once around 2am, Rohit Sharma texted me, "PC, are you up? I want to talk about something." He brought a piece of paper, with the pitch and a plan for Warner or some other batter, I don't remember. So even so late at night, he is thinking about the next day's match and the plan. That's why he is one of the greatest leaders."

In the same interview, Chawla added:

"Rohit is a bowlers' captain obviously, but he is a true leader. He gives you a free hand, and I have played so much cricket with him that I have a different comfort level when playing with him. We not only discuss things on the field, but we also have discussions off the field."

"Rohit Sharma is not a captain, he is a leader"- Piyush Chawla

Piyush Chawla labeled Rohit as a true leader and highlighted how he led Team India from the front in the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup. Repeating what he said while on commentary for the mega events, Piyush said:

"I said this while on commentary for T20 World Cup also that there is one role called captain and one role called leader. Rohit Sharma is not a captain, he is a leader. He sets the example. Be it 2023 ODI World Cup or 2024 T20 World Cup, the way Rohit bats, he sets the tone for the rest of the team and makes the job of other batters easier."

Rohit Sharma will return to action next week when he leads India in the ICC World Test Championship series against Bangladesh. It will be interesting to see if he can lead the Indian team to another series win in WTC.