“No amount of PR or marketing…”- Gautam Gambhir’s ‘selfless leader’ Rohit Sharma remark infuriates Virat Kohli fans

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have scored more than 350 runs each in the ongoing CWC 2023.

By Jatin Sharma - 29 Oct, 2023

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir lauded current captain Rohit Sharma as a ‘selfless leader’ and in doing so sparked a debate about his comments being a veiled dig at former skipper Virat Kohli on his performance in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.

In the recent ongoing CWC 2023 match between India and England which is being played in Lucknow, Rohit Sharma starred for India as he made 87 runs as India could only manage 229/9 in 59 overs. Apart from Rohit, who hit 10 fours and 3 sixes, Suryakumar Yadav (49) and KL Rahul (39) were the next-best scorers.

Rohit could have made his second century in this tournament but got out trying to up the ante in the last few overs.

Speaking on air during this encounter, Gambhir reckoned that had records and numbers been Rohit's top priority, he would have had 40 or more centuries in ODI cricket. He further lauded Rohit and said he is a “selfless” leader and has shown as a skipper what he truly wants from his batter, even though the numbers may not exactly reflect the same.

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Rohit Sharma would have got 40-45 hundred by now, but he is not obsessed with hundreds. Only a selfless leader does it first what he wants from the team first. If you want a positive batting mindset from the team, then you got to do it first. That is called leading from the front. No amount of PR or marketing would get you that.

You have to do it yourself and that is what Rohit Sharma has done in this World Cup. His average may not say that or his run tally might place him in the 5th or the 10th spot, but that doesn't matter. But if you want to lift that trophy on November 19, that should be your aim. Now you have to decide whether you want to score a hundred or win the World Cup,” he said on Star Sports.

However, Gambhir’s selfless remark for Rohit Sharma was perceived by fans of Kohli as the 2011 World Cup-winning cricketer indirectly targeting the former skipper.

Last week, social media was on fire post-India's World Cup game against Bangladesh in Pune last week where Virat Kohli was blasted for “selfishly” going for a century, which would have put him at par with Sachin Tendulkar's prized tally of 49 hundreds in ODIs, before being dismissed for 95.

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By Jatin Sharma - 29 Oct, 2023

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