Team India are drawing flak from all quarters after their heavy 209-run defeat at the hands of Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final at The Oval.
This result meant India's underwhelming record in ICC tournaments continued, with their last victory coming way back in 2013. India were defeated by New Zealand in the inaugural WTC final two years ago.
Amid the scrutiny, Former Australia batter Michael Clarke has come out in support of the Indian team and its skipper Rohit Sharma, who registered scores of 15 and 43 in the WTC final.
According to Clarke, the outcome of the final doesn’t define Rohit's abilities as a captain or India's overall strength as a team.
"Since taking over as captain he has won a Test series against Australia at home. He has done well as a batter as well. Think of his hundred in the last series. Losing a one off final doesn't make him a bad captain and nor does it make India a bad team. To make consecutive finals isn't easy. What it means is that India was the only team to play consistently well over a period of four years. To do so in Test cricket is commendable and I would urge you to look at that as well before making any kind of judgment call," Clarke said while talking to Revsportz.
Clarke believes qualifying for the finals of the World Test Championship in successive editions is itself a big achievement.
"I would be keeping faith with Rohit, I think he is a very good captain. I like his aggressive approach, he looks to be as positive as he can be. He has had a lot of success as a leader (look at his IPL record for Mumbai) just because India didn't win the Test World Championship doesn't mean Rohit is not the right guy to lead India. The fact that India qualified again, they are the only team to make consecutive finals, says a lot about how they have played their Test cricket over the past four years (qualifying for both Test Championships). It is also a very important time for stability with the ODI World Cup right around the corner," he added.
After taking over the Test captaincy in 2022, Rohit Sharma has played 7 out of India’s 10 Tests so far. He missed out on three matches — one in England due to COVID-19 and two in Bangladesh due to split webbing.
In 7 Tests and 11 innings, Rohit has scored 390 runs at an average of 35.45 with one century and no other score above 50.
India will begin their WTC 2023-2025 cycle with a two-match Test series against West Indies, slated to get underway on July 12 in Dominica.
