Indirect dig aimed at Virat Kohli as Sanjay Manjrekar hails Rohit Sharma's selflessness with 'leader of new thought' remark

Rohit Sharma has been the talk of the town since playing the match-winning knock against Australia in their Super 8 clash against Australia in St Lucia. 

His 41-ball 92 set the platform for India's end score of 205. Australia could only get to 181/7 in the chase and ultimately lost the game. Rohit's knock is being also praised as the knock of the tournament so far one which knocked Australia out of the tournament. 

India lost to Australia in the ICC World Cup final where Rohit played a similar knock to give India a quick start. His wicket eventually became the turning point for India in the game as they ended up losing the final. 

This time around, Rohit was very focused on his gameplan and the way he played. He also ensured that he held onto a dolly to dismiss Travis Head who won the game for Australia in the ODI World Cup final.

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Sanjay Manjrekar while speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, spoke about Rohit's selflessness in this tournament so far. From the very first game of the tournament, Rohit tried giving India quick starts. He started doing it more regularly in the Super 8s and had his biggest impact in the match against Australia.

"What people and fans are realizing with Rohit Sharma is this is a guy who's obviously got the skills how easily he plays the big shots against quality bowlers. But his selflessness, that is the most appealing thing about him. He doesn't worry about Rohit Sharma, I am the big-name player here. I must get a score, I must get a fifty. He's out there and just trying to maximize returns on every ball. Some shots are very risky but he is happy to play them. Even when he got out in the 90s, he was not going to be taking too much time to get to his hundred" Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.

Rohit Sharma Is The Leader Of A New Thought In Indian Cricket: Sanjay Manjrekar

He further said that Rohit has been walking the talk regarding scoring quickly in the white-ball format since the ODI World Cup. It paid India a lot of dividends in that tournament and in the match against Australia as well.

"He is the leader of this new thought in Indian cricket here it is about just trying to score quickly" added Manjrekar. 

After his knock against Australia, Rohit has now scored 191 runs in six games at an average of 38.20 and a strike rate touching 160. He has hit 16 fours and 13 sixes, 8 of which came in that knock against Australia. Rahmanullah Gurbaz with 281 runs is leading the run-scoring list at the moment. He was unfortunately dismissed for a duck in the semi-final against South Africa. Rohit has the chance to add to his tally in the semi-final against England. 

Rain is a constant threat in the second semi-final in Guyana. There is no reserve day but there is an additional time frame of 250 minutes to complete the game. If rain does play spoilsport, India will earn the right to play South Africa in the finals on Sunday, having topped their group in the Super 8s.

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