Rohit Sharma has 'a calming influence': Ravi Shastri

Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri has stated that squad's stand-in skipper during the recently-concluded Asia Cup Rohit Sharma had a calming influence on his teammates and it was evident from the way he led the side.

The comment came after, under Sharma's captaincy, India clinched their record 7th Asia Cup title after defeating Bangladesh by three wickets in a nail-biting final contest.

Further praising Sharma for his captaincy skills, the coach said that the bowling changes he made in the final were really good.

"Rohit was a calming influence and it showed in his captaincy. To keep his intensity going even after the start they had, showed he was really cool in every aspect of captaincy," ICC website quoted Shastri, as saying.

"The bowling changes he made were really good, to concede just around 100 runs in the last 30 overs, I thought it was brilliant," he added.

Reflecting on the biggest plus point that India had in the tournament, Shastri said that the fielding department of the team performed really well under oppressive conditions.

"The biggest plus was the fielding, game after game, we saved around 30-35 runs in these oppressive conditions. We took wickets consistently and during the middle-overs, the bowlers were outstanding, we bowled well with the new ball in tough conditions and then the spinners came to the party," he concluded.