Rohit Sharma’s calmness reminds Kris Srikkanth of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, as the former opener compared their styles of leadership ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 final between India and South Africa on June 29, 2024.
India has reached the ICC Trophy final for the third time in a row, led by Rohit Sharma. Sharma, who took over for Virat Kohli in all formats of the game, has helped India play a much more aggressive brand of cricket, allowing them to dominate in all formats.
Former India batter Kris Srikkanth compared Rohit Sharma to the legendary Kapil Dev, who won the World Cup in 1983. Srikkanth said that there are similarities between Rohit Sharma and the former Indian captain, which is seen as a landmark event in Indian cricket history.
“I don’t like to compare eras and captains, but I just bring you a similarity between the 1983 World Cup and this one. See in this World Cup who’s taking the lead as a leader? As a leader, Rohit Sharma said ‘Man, I’ll take up the lead. I’ll start playing the risky shots. I will take it up,’ and he’s played those fantastic shots and some fantastic knocks. And then everybody has been playing around him and everybody has done well,” Kris Srikkanth said on Star Sports.
Srikkanth believed that even minor contributions from Indian players were critical to the team’s success in crunch times.
“As a team, you need everybody. Maybe it could be Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, it could be Hardik Pandya, even 10-12 runs from Axar Patel,” Srikkanth said.
Rohit Sharma has the calming effect, the same thing that Kapil Dev had: Kris Srikkanth
The former hitter praised Rohit for using his resources wisely, particularly in India’s semi-final match against England. Srikkanth thought that putting in Axar Patel during the powerplay and giving him two overs was a great move by the Indian captain.
“And the best part is, he can manage his bowlers brilliantly. Like the last match against England, you saw the fourth over he brought in Axar Patel and he got a crucial wicket of Buttler. So what I like about him is his calmness on the field, the calming effect, the same thing that Kapil Dev did and everybody is contributing to the success of the team. It’s just not one person, so that’s what Rohit Sharma has done. He’s got the team together, which is very important as a captain and as a leader,” Srikkanth concluded.
India takes on South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 on 29 June, Saturday.
Also Read: ‘This Is The Time To Get Behind Virat Kohli’- Harsha Bhogle
