‘Rohit Sharma always took the blame’: Abhishek Nayar reveals hitman’s biggest leadership secret

India’s former assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has opened up about the leadership qualities that made Rohit Sharma one of the most respected captains in the Indian dressing room. Looking back at his time with the team, Nayar explained how Rohit’s calm nature and habit of putting the team before himself helped players deal with difficult phases and disappointing defeats.

Abhishek Nayar praises Rohit Sharma’s leadership

Nayar said Rohit always stood in front of the team during tough times instead of pointing fingers at individual players. According to him, the India captain never looked to shift blame and was always ready to accept responsibility whenever results did not go India’s way.

“We had Rohit Sharma as captain, and I remember him coming out after the Mumbai Test and saying in the press conference, ‘It’s okay. We’ve won so many series, we’ve lost this one, and I’ll take responsibility for it.’ That’s who Rohit was. There was always that side of him that could lighten the mood and make sure the team was okay,” Nayar told JioStar.

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Rohit always protected his players

Nayar revealed that Rohit’s biggest strength as a leader was the way he looked after his teammates after defeats. Instead of criticizing players publicly, he focused on lifting their confidence and ensuring that failures did not affect them mentally.

“Of course, whenever India loses, it hurts everyone. But the one thing he did exceptionally well was look after his players. He would think about who had been affected the most, who hadn’t scored runs, and how he could make them feel better. The quality I admired most about Rohit was that he always took responsibility. He would never come out and blame anyone by saying, ‘You did this’ or ‘You did that.’ Instead, he would put his hand up and say, ‘I failed.’ You would never hear him making excuses or throwing someone under the bus,” he added.

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Honest communication built trust

Nayar also highlighted Rohit’s communication skills, saying players trusted him because he always spoke honestly, whether inside the dressing room or in front of the media.

He recalled that even when Rohit did not feature in the Sydney Test, he still addressed the media himself and never tried to avoid difficult questions.

“I remember the Sydney Test when Rohit didn’t play. He still came out, gave the interview, and said exactly what he had to say. He never sugar-coated anything. That’s why the team trusted him. Ask any young cricketer, even today, and they’ll speak very fondly about Rohit Sharma’s captaincy.

“They’ll tell you that even when he scolded them, they took it seriously because they knew it came from a place of trust and genuine care. As a captain, his communication was exceptional. Sanju Samson spoke about it too after he was left out of the T20 World Cup final in Barbados. Even though Sanju wasn’t playing, Rohit made sure he spoke to him before the toss because he was concerned about how he was feeling. Those difficult phases were a little easier because Rohit Sharma was around,” Nayar stated.