There is a lot of buzz around the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, slated to be held in India from October 5 to November 19.
With less than a month remaining for the showpiece tournament, experts are picking their preferred XI and key players for the participating teams.
Former cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has tipped India skipper Rohit Sharma to do well during this year's World Cup at home.
Manjrekar feels Rohit’s hunger to play big knock is still intact but said that only time will tell if the right-hander can emulate the heroics of the 2019 World Cup.
Rohit was the top run-getter in the last ODI World Cup in England and Wales. The right-hander had amassed 648 runs from 9 innings at an average of 81 with five centuries, helping India reach the semi-finals of the marquee event.
"He got 5 hundreds in the last World Cup, right? My assessment of Rohit Sharma is that his defence has actually gotten much better. He is a much better Test player now than he was in 2019. So I have no issues," Manjrekar told Star Sports.
Manjrekar’s comments came after Rohit smashed 56 off 49 balls in the Asia Cup 2023 Super-4 match against Pakistan in Colombo.
The Indian captain seemed set for a three-figure mark before he gifted away his wicket with a loose shot against leg-spinner Shadab Khan in the 17th over after a 121-run opening stand with Shubman Gill.
"I was absolutely not surprised with the defence he showed today against Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. It's about converting those starts into big hundreds because that involves running a lot of ones and twos later on in the innings.
"Today, he got out after fifty. Even earlier in the season, there were occasions when he had got past his fifties and looked good.
"Only time will tell whether he would be able to replicate that. But, on the pure quality of defence, Rohit is better today. That natural ability to hit the big shots is still there. The question is whether he can bring that all together to hit 5 hundreds, 4 hundreds or 3. That time will tell," Manjrekar remarked.
