Gautam Gambhir has heaped rich praise on India captain Rohit Sharma for his brilliant captaincy and for making the dressing room a secure one. This comes after India completed the ICC World Cup 2023 league stage by winning all 9 games.

India defeated the Netherlands by 160 runs in the final league game in Bengaluru thanks to brilliant tons from Shreyas Iyer (128*) and KL Rahul (102). Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli also hit half-centuries as India posted 410/4 in 50 overs.

In response, Netherlands posted 250 runs, as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also took a wicket each.

Rohit has been at the top of his game with the bat and as captain. He led India to the top of the points table with an impressive win percentage of 76.76. He has 503 runs with one century and 3 fifties to his name. Rohit became the first batter to score 500-plus run in two consecutive World Cups.

Gautam Gambhir praised Rohit Sharma and said that he gives the players a lot of security and ticks all the boxes when it comes to winning trophies.

“Look, there is nothing that has changed from 2019 to 2023. There were so many changes that happened in 2019 as compared to the least amount of changes that happened in 2023. A good captain and leader give you security, which makes the dressing room secure, not only for himself but for the other 14 players as well. And Rohit Sharma has done that. That’s why he has won five IPL trophies; that’s where his winning ratio when he started playing all those international games has been fabulous. If you go by the stats and the trophies, he ticks all the boxes,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.

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The former opener said that Rohit has made the Indian dressing room a very secure one.

“But the most important thing is he has made that dressing room a very secure dressing room. When the captain comes out and talks in his post-match presentation that he believes in his players and gives them longer runs, it makes you believe how much your captain is backing you. And that is the difference between Rohit Sharma as a leader, compared to some other captains that have captained previously for India," Gambhir added.

India will now take on New Zealand in the first semi-final in Mumbai on November 15.