Team India has witnessed the astute leadership of three tactically brilliant captains in the form of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma since the turn of the century.
All three captains brought laurels to the country during their respective tenures. Dhoni helped India clinch the inaugural edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2007 and then guided India to the ODI World Cup triumph in 2011.
The Ranchi-born added a third ICC title to his cabinet when the Men in Blue won the Champions Trophy in 2013 by beating England in the final.
Dhoni passed the baton to Virat and the latter created his own legacy as captain. Virat finished his captaincy stint as the captain with the most Test wins for India. He also successfully led the team to the top spot in the ICC rankings.
Rohit replaced Virat as Team India's captain in all three formats and added more value to the side.
India won Asia Cup titles and several bilateral series under Rohit but the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph is his biggest achievement as captain.
Ravichandran Ashwin analysed the leadership styles of all three players and shared his perspective on how they vary from each other.
"Leadership is not a title. Leadership is how you lead your life. Leading without a title is also leadership," said Ashwin on Vimal Kumar's YouTube channel.
"The thing that I really liked about MS Dhoni's captaincy was the stability that he gave to the players. He gave Ravindra Jadeja plenty of opportunities as a finisher to establish himself. Jadeja benefitted from those chances and he has become a fine allrounder today. If Dhoni identifies a talent then he backs him and provides him stability," he said.
"Virat Kohli inspires his players. He leads by example and from the front. He does what he wants from the unit," he added.
"There are a few things that I really like about Rohit Sharma's captaincy. He keeps the environment of the team very light and makes a conscious effort to do so. He is very balanced as captain and is tactically brilliant.
"MS (Dhoni) is also tactically strong and even Virat is tactically strong. But Rohit dedicates more time to the tactical aspects of the game.
"Rohit sits down with the coaches and the technical team and strategises in the lead-up to marquee games. He backs his players," he concluded.
