Rohit Sharma has become the first Indian captain to lead the Indian team to three whitewashes in T20 internationals, which is quite a surprising feat given the fact that he has only recently taken over the permanent captaincy of the Indian T20I team.
Rohit Sharma, when he had captained the Indian T20I team in 2017 and 2018 against Sri Lanka and West Indies respectively in the absence of Virat Kohli, had led the team to whitewash triumphs and now he has done it for the third time against New Zealand, this time as the permanent Indian T20I captain.
The former Indian T20I captain Virat Kohli had also led India to whitewash triumphs against West Indies and New Zealand in 2019 and 2020 respectively, with the series against New Zealand being a 5-0 whitewash in New Zealand itself.
Another whitewash that the Indian team has secured in T20 international cricket was under the former World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni back in 2016 when they beat Australia 3-0 on Australian soil right before the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup of 2016. India, thereafter, went on to win the Asia Cup as well later, but their momentum was broken in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup where they were beaten by West Indies.
Rohit Sharma can inch closer to MS Dhoni’s record of most number of T20I victories as captain
While Rohit Sharma has already created the record of having most number of whitewashes as captain in T20Is for India, he also has the opportunity to go significantly closer to MS Dhoni in terms of winning the most number of T20I games for India as a captain. Dhoni is currently the most successful Indian T20I captain with most number of victories as well as a T20 World Cup title.
The Indian team has got more than 20 T20 international matches scheduled before the T20 World Cup of 2022 in Australia and since Rohit has to lead India in the next World Cup, he is likely to play most of the T20 international games leading up to it.