Follow UsFormer India skipper and head coach Ravi Shastri feels Rohit Sharma will “go down as one of the best captains ever alongside MS Dhoni.” Under his leadership, India recently won the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.
Under Rohit’s leadership, India made it through to the semis of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia and then finished as the runners-up in the 2023 ODI World Cup. The Men in Blue finally ended the ICC trophy draught by defeating South Africa in the grand finale of the last T20 World Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Rohit has captained India in 62 T20Is and lost only 12 of them. He is the only Indian captain with 50 wins in the 20-over format. “As a tactician, let's not forget that he's been an outstanding guy,” Shastri said on the ICC Review.
“He'll go down as one of the best captains ever alongside Dhoni. If you ask me who's better, I'd say both are on par when it comes to tactics in the white-ball game. I can't pay a bigger compliment to Rohit than that because you know what MS has done and the titles he has won.
"Rohit is not far behind and I thought tactically he was just outstanding in this year's World Cup. Just the calmness, the ability to get a (Jasprit) Bumrah or a (Hardik) Pandya, or even an Axar Patel at just the right time when needed was great to see.”
Rohit retired from the 20-over format after winning the 2024 T20WC but will continue to play the other two formats for India. Rohit, who has close to 15000 runs in white-ball cricket, will captain India in next year’s Champions Trophy. The right-handed batter has 36 hundreds, including three double centuries, and 87 fifties in ODIs and T20Is combined.
“I think a giant in the white-ball game. One of the all-time greats. One of the best who have ever played. Will walk into any white-ball team they pick, irrespective of the era. Just because of the dynamic ability he has at the top.”
Comparing Rohit’s game to Virat Kohli, Shastri said: “The thing with Rohit Sharma is he plays the big shots, he scores quickly, but they’re all cricketing shots. What amazes me, there’s not an element of sloppiness. I mean, it just shows how much time he has on his hands to play the best and the power – people forget that this man is explosive. He’s got power.
“Compared to Virat Kohli, you know, Virat Kohli is more finesse, he’s starts along the ground. This man is explosive. He’s got the power to clear any ground in the world and take on the fast bowlers. He’s got the shots for the quicks and he can destroy spin as well.”
Both Rohit and Kohli are part of India’s squad that will play three ODIs against Sri Lanka, starting on August 2 (Friday).
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