India opener KL Rahul said on Monday that all the players in their T20I squad are excited to play under new captain Rohit Sharma, who took over the job from Virat Kohli after their exit from the recent World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Rohit, who has led Mumbai Indians to 5 IPL titles, will be captaining India with Rahul as his deputy for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting November 17 in Jaipur. India will also play under new coach Rahul Dravid for the first time after he replaced Ravi Shastri from the top job earlier this month.

Kohli, who gave up the T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup, has been rested for the white-ball games and the first Test but will return to lead India in the second Test against Kane Williamson’s side next month.

“There’s nothing new in Rohit being captain, we’ve all seen him leading Mumbai Indians for as long as I can remember. His stats are there for everybody to be seen, he has a great understanding of the game.

“Tactically he’s really good and that’s why he’s been able to achieve the kind of things that he has as a leader.

“We all enjoy watching Rohit bat, he is a great guy to be around. I’m sure he’s excited and all of us in the Indian team are excited to play under Rohit,” Rahul told reporters.

The 29-year-old Karnataka batsman went on to add that Rohit “will bring a lot of calm” in the Indian dressing room when he takes over. Notably, Rohit Sharma has a better win-percentage (78.94) than Virat Kohli (64.58) as India captain in T20I cricket.

“He will bring a lot of calm into the dressing room and the next few weeks will be exciting to understand what kind of goals he has.

“The more we talk to him in the next few days, I’ll also be able to understand it better. But like I said, it’s a big change in Indian cricket and we are all looking forward and excited about it,” Rahul added.

India and New Zealand will play 3 T20Is from November 17 before the first Test in Kanpur. They will then return to Mumbai for the second match starting December 3 at the Wankhede Stadium.

The hosts will be without first-team regulars Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant in both the red-ball games as they have also been rested.