In 2013, Rohit shared the Mumbai Indians dressing room with Ponting, who stepped down as captain of the franchise midway through the season, paving the way for Rohit to take over and lead them to the IPL trophy for the first time. They have since won three more titles to become the most successful team in the tournament’s history.

Ponting took over as the team’s coach in 2015, leading them to the title that year, and was in the role for two seasons before Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene took over. For Rohit, however, nothing beats those two years under Ponting.

I think she does it better than me @ImRo45 @ritssajdeh!I can safely say I am a bigger fan of hers than she is of me. ? pic.twitter.com/rHP5g52e20

— Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) April 3, 2020

“Very difficult to pick one name, because they all bring something or the other to the table,” Rohit told Kevin Pietersen during an Instagram live session. “But Ricky Ponting to me was magic. The way he handled the team, when he was captain for the first half, and then gave it to me, it takes a lot of guts to do that.

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“After that as well, to be as involved as he was, as a member of the support staff, he was helping all the youngsters and guided [me] through the captaincy. I got to learn a lot from him. He was a different ball game altogether.”

After his stint with Mumbai, Ponting took over as coach of Delhi Capitals, and did well to take the traditionally under-achieving team as far as Qualifier 2 in IPL 2019. Rohit, meanwhile, lifted the IPL trophy for the fourth time last year.