IND vs BAN: Virat Kohli Or Rohit Sharma? Ricky Ponting Names The Most Ideal Indian Captain
Published - 17 Oct 2023, 01:27 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:20 AM
Australia great Ricky Ponting has heaped praise on Rohit Sharma‘s leadership, saying that he is the ideal captain to lead India in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
With three wins from as many games, Team India are at the top of the points table. The Men in Blue started their campaign with a six-wicket win over Australia before thrashing Afghanistan and Pakistan by eight and seven wickets respectively.
And Rohit Sharma has led his team from the very front so far. While he was out for a duck in the first game, he bounced back in style by smashing a record 63-ball century against Afghanistan and went on to score 131 runs as India chased down 273 in just 35 overs. Against Pakistan, he scored 86 runs in just 63 balls as India chased down 192 in less than 31 overs.
Ricky Ponting praises Rohit Sharma:
With Rohit Sharma leading India well in the competition, he has received some high praise from three-time World Cup winner Ricky Ponting. The former Australia captain began by saying that Rohit Sharma is very laid back in his approach and backed him to deal well with the pressure.
“He’s very laid back, Rohit. Very laid back with everything he does,” Ponting told the ICC.
“You can even see that by the way that he plays. He’s a pretty laconic sort of batsman as well, and that’s the way he is both on and off the field.
“We can’t sit back and say that the pressure won’t get to them at some stage, or it won’t affect them, because it will, just with the enormity of the tournament. But he’ll take it and cope with it as well as probably anyone,” he added.
Speaking further, Ponting also talked about Rohit Sharma’s predecessor Virat Kohli. The former batsman stated that Kohli would have found it tougher to deal with the pressure because of his personality.
“Someone like Virat, who is a bit more heart-on-the-sleeve, and probably listens to the fans and plays up with the fans a little bit more, someone with his personality would probably find it a bit harder,” Ponting said.
“But I think Rohit will be fine with it. He’s a terrific bloke and has been a great player for a long time, and he’s done a great job as leader of India,” he added.
Team India will be in action next on Thursday (October 19) when they lock horns against Bangladesh in Pune.