IPL 8: Rohit is a far better Mumbai Indians captain today, says Tendulkar

Kolkata Former cricketer and Mumbai Indians icon Sachin Tendulkar has heaped praise on the IPL champion teams skipper Rohit Sharma saying that he has grown as a leader over the yearsIf you compare him today with what he was when he started out as Mumbai Indians captain he is a far better captain today He is much more confident now He has gone through a lot of ups and downs as MIs captain and has faced a lot of challenges These challenges only make you a better cricketer and a tougher person Tendulkar saidSachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma during an earlier IPL editionRohit led from the front in the final of IPL against Chennai Super Kings scoring a halfcentury and putting on 119 runs with Lendl Simmons 68 to help Mumbai Indians post a massive 202 for five and eventually win the trophy with a 41run victoryI think his execution has been particularly good this season Whatever we planned in the meetings and dressing room he has been able to execute them very well You can tell a lot about the captain from the feedback the bowlers give you The bowlers bowl in the areas and execute the plans that the captain asks them to Tendulkar told iplt20comWe can plan many things behind closed doors but it is up to the captain the bowlers and the fielders to bring it all together Rohit has done that well he insistedTendulkar termed Mumbai Indians amazing turnaround this season after four straight losses as fantastic We had a difficult start really tough one But those are the testing moments Thats when the team stuck together and we worked hard This victory is not a coincidence it is the reflection of all the hard work that we have put in said the legendary batsmanAll of us truly believed that we could change things around It is not how you start but how you finish that matters he added The 42yearold legendary batsman said his team never lost the faith and belief even when they were losing backtoback matchesWhat stood out for me was the belief and faith we had in our ability At no stage any player was ready to put his head down thinking this is a difficult season and there is no future for us We always saw the light at the end of the tunnel Tendulkar saidThe retired Indian batsman said former Australia captain Ricky Ponting who currently coaches Mumbai Indians still has the same approach to the game as in his playing days When we played against him he always came across as a serious fearless competitor who never wanted to give up The same applied here At no stage did he feel that we are out of the tournament We need positive people with good experience around and Ricky doesnt lack in any of those departmentsApplauding Simmons who seems to have solved the opening conundrum for Mumbai Indians Tendulkar said I thought he batted beautifully throughout the tournament He has been very consistent I also felt that the other players played really well around him He was the anchor of our team and because of him all the other players had the freedom to go and express themselvesAsked which Mumbai Indians players were the find of this edition of IPL Tendulkar said Some of the guys that played for MI for the first time this season did extremely well for us The likes of J Suchith and Hardik Pandya were very impressive Also Vinay Kumar I know he is an experienced campaigner but this was his first year for Mumbai Indians I thought he didnt start out very convincingly but he finished brilliantly He peaked at the right time he concluded