Former Indian cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir has declared Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma as the best captain in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Mumbai side has played all 12 seasons of the IPL since its inception in 2008 and the defending champions are currently the most successful franchise in the domestic cricket's biggest T20 extravaganza with four titles – all came under the captaincy of India’s hitman Rohit Sharma.
Gambhir has recently appeared in an episode of Star Sports’ Cricket Connected, along with Sanjay Bangar, Kevin Pietersen and Danny Morrison where they discussed who has been the best captain in IPL history. Well, Pietersen and Morrison picked Chennai Super Kings captain, MS Dhoni, while Gambhir and Bangar rated Rohit over legendary Indian captain as IPL’s best captain.
Insisting the captaincy is all about winning trophies, Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, has also predicted that India’s vice-captain “may finish with 6-7 titles under his belt” to finish as the tournament’s most successful captain.
Gambhir said on the show, “I think it’s Rohit Sharma. He has won it four times. Captaincy is all about winning trophies. He will end up being the most successful IPL captain of all time as well. He has 4 already, he may finish at 6-7 maybe under his belt.”
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Meanwhile, India’s former batting coach Bangar also lauded Rohit’s captaincy, adding: “The number of close matches that Mumbai Indians have won actually also show Rohit’s success as captain. He has won some very close games. The choices that he makes under pressure are good.”
Bangar continued, “He is backed by the result, but even from a pure captaincy point of view, the smartness and decision making, I would say Rohit Sharma.”
On the other hand, Pietersen said on his pick: “It is very difficult to go against MS Dhoni because of what everyone expects from him. How he has lived his life. What he has been through. Captaining India and then captaining CSK. I love what Rohit Sharma does, I love what Mumbai Indians have done. But because of consistency and living up to the weight of expectation, MS Is my guy.”
While Morrison said on Dhoni, “I am looking at the vibes and inspiration and that fellow brings in and he did the same when he was in blue. I want to back that guy, I wanna be in his corner. And sometimes out of nowhere, he brings out the helicopter shot. MS takes pressure like no one else.”
Noteworthy, Dhoni is the most successful captain when it comes to winning the number of matches as he won 104 IPL matches off 174 while Rohit has managed to win 60 as captain off 104 matches so far.
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)
