India captain Rohit Sharma came in for some special praise from legend Sunil Gavaskar, who said that he hasn’t come across a more chilled-out captain than him in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
Under Rohit’s captaincy, India has been undefeated in the ongoing CWC 2023, winning all of their 8 matches thus far and qualifying for the semi-finals. The batters have batted superbly, and the bowlers have been extraordinary simply because on pitches where they have had little or no help, they have been running through the opposition line-ups.
Sunil Gavaskar in his column for Sportstar, lauded Rohit Sharma’s selfless batting display for the Indian team and his captaincy as well in this tournament.
“The one huge aspect of the Indian team’s performance that has gone under the radar has been the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. In my years of watching cricket, I don’t think I have come across a more chilled-out skipper than Rohit. He has that same easy approach to captaincy as he has with his bat, and while he occasionally shows his disapproval of some lapse in the field, he does it in an elder brotherly manner where the erring player knows he has not quite done what he was expected to do but does not get offended by the glare directed at him,” Gavaskar wrote.
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“One can sense the easy camaraderie between him and his players. He is still one of the boys, but his team knows there’s a line that cannot be breached. From all accounts, he is a delight at media conferences, where his expressions, coupled with his laconic answers, have made his press briefings a must-attend,” he added.
Gavaskar further praised Rohit Sharma for his sacrifices with the bat at the top of the order. Rohit has 442 runs in 8 matches in this CWC 2023 at a strike rate of 122.22 and an average of 55.25. He has one century and 2 fifties to his name.
However, he has often got out short of personal milestones in trying to give the team momentum. His memorable assault on Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf in the match between India and Pakistan was the perfect display of his mindset as he got out for 86 trying to keep the rate of scoring up, chasing 192 runs.
“What he has shown in the tournament is to be proactive, not just while batting, where, in the interests of his team getting off to a flying start, he has sacrificed personal milestones and glory,” Gavaskar wrote.
“Some of the younger players have seen what the skipper is doing and have lost their wickets in trying to take the team to a bigger total. Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Suryakumar Yadav are prime examples of players who aren’t certainties in the team yet but still have gone the extra mile in the pursuit of the team’s interest.
Rohit’s willingness to go the unconventional way was seen once more when he opted to bat against South Africa, and despite getting to an electrifying 40 off just 24 balls, he got out trying to hit another boundary,” Gavaskar added.
India will aim to win all 9 matches in the league stage when they face the Netherlands on November 12th in Bengaluru.
(Sportstar inputs)
