Rohit Sharma can't win ICC tournaments? Praveen Kumar slams India captain's critics

Former India National Cricket Team right-arm fast bowler Praveen Kumar, who represented his country at the international level from 2007 to 2012, has lashed out at the critics of the all-format captain Rohit Sharma.

Praveen Kumar, who was known for his ability to swing the ball both ways and bowl long spells, played across all formats for the India National Cricket Team. He played 84 international cricket matches and was able to bag 112 wickets at an average of 32.71, an economy of 4.38, and a strike rate of 44.7 with one 5-wicket haul to his name.

Kumar recently showered rich praise on the skipper Rohit Sharma for doing a brilliant job while leading the Indian team in Tests, ODIs, T20Is as well as Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In the last few years under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, India have delivered sensational performances in all three formats but have failed to capture an ICC trophy. They lost the semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 and the finals of the ICC World Test Championship and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

India were absolutely dominant in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at home and entered the summit clash of the tournament unbeaten. However, they weren’t able to cross the final hurdle and Rohit Sharma & Co. suffered a heartbreak in a high-voltage final against Australia.

He knows really well how to use his players – Praveen Kumar on Rohit Sharma

In a conversation with News18 SportsNext, Praveen Kumar said that Rohit utilizes his players to the best of their ability. He also targeted the critics of the Indian skipper and said that it’s wrong to give Rohit Sharma the tag that he can’t win ICC tournaments.

“Rohit Sharma does a very good captaincy whether it is Tests, ODIs, T20I or IPL. He knows really well how to use his players and how to get the best out of every player. A few non-cricketers gave him the tag that he can’t win ICC tournaments,” former India National Cricket Team pacer stated.

“They are reaching semi-final and final because they are playing good cricket. Sometimes it happens that you lose the final. Only non-cricketers say that we didn’t win the final, this didn’t happen, that didn’t happen, but the people who have played cricket have got the idea.”

Rohit Sharma’s next chance to finally end India’s ICC title drought will come when India compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA.

There were rumors that Hardik Pandya might be captaining the team in the competition, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah recently announced that Rohit will be leading India and Hardik will serve as his deputy. Also, Rahul Dravid will remain the head coach of the side during the tournament, confirmed Jay Shah.

Before the T20 World Cup 2024, Rohit will be seen in action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, however, he won’t be leading the Mumbai Indians (MI) as Hardik Pandya has been named as the new captain of the franchise.