Ashwin credits Rohit, Dravid for India's aggressive white-ball turnaround

Ravichandran Ashwin has said India's surge in aggression in white-ball cricket is the result of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid pushing for a faster scoring tempo and leading by example on the field. He noted that both men practiced the approach themselves, showing teammates what to do and setting the standard for how India should play in ODIs and T20Is. "They showed the way, Rohit showed the way, paved the way and eventually it has changed the way how India perceived batting. Batting is not average, it is purely strike rate in white-ball cricket," he said on his YouTube channel.

The transformation, according to Ashwin, came after a run of disappointing ICC results and became evident during India’s 2023 ODI World Cup campaign in India and again during the 2024 T20 World Cup title win in the Caribbean and USA.

With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now focusing on ODI cricket after stepping away from T20Is and Tests, Ashwin urged fans to value the period left with them in international cricket. "I will say one thing, how much time we have to watch and enjoy Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bat, please let’s do it because once they are done, we could hear talks like ‘oh, what a player he was! Please bring him back’. That doesn’t cut ice for me. For however long they play, let us celebrate them as long as they are playing. As I said, life moves on very fast. Time does not wait for anyone. It is".

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