"Rohit Sharma Has A Higher Winning Percentage Than MS Dhoni And Virat Kohli" - Rohan Gavaskar
Published - 19 Jan 2024, 11:52 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:22 AM
Former Indian cricketer Rohan Gavaskar lauded Rohit Sharma for his brilliant batting performance in the third T20I against Afghanistan. Rohan Gavaskar highlighted Rohit Sharma’s ability to adapt to different game situations in the shorter format of the game.
Rohit Sharma failed to make an impact in the first two T20Is in the recent series, registering two ducks in his comeback series. However, he smashed a record-breaking century in the third and final T20I match. The batter recorded his fifth T20I century, the most by any batter.
The 36-year-old rescued the team from a challenging situation at 22-4 and added an unbeaten 190-run stand with Rinku Singh. The right-handed batter scored 121 runs off just 69 balls, including 11 boundaries and 8 sixes, to help the team reach a total of 212 runs.
The veteran opener also became the most successful skipper for India in T20I cricket, surpassing the legendary captain MS Dhoni’s record. He guided the national team to 42 wins in 54 matches as India’s T20I skipper, while MS Dhoni had notched up 41 wins in 76 games.
Rohit Sharma And Rinku Singh Used Their Cricketing Intelligence – Rohan Gavaskar
In a conversation with Cricbuzz, Rohan Gavaskar commended Rohit Sharma for his leadership, stating that surpassing Dhoni’s win record speaks volumes about his captaincy skills. Gavaskar also mentioned that Rinku Singh played his role well in building innings.
“This is the format where your captaincy skills are really tested. If he has a higher winning percentage than MS and Virat, that tells you what a good captain he is. What I really liked about this innings is that, generally you say in a T20I game now – the template is to go bang bang bang from the word go. And that is the template that is set. But both Rohit and Rinku used their cricketing intelligence at 22-4 and said no. We can get runs later on but let’s just give ourselves a little bit of time,” Gavaskar told Cricbuzz.
A record-breaking evening in Bengaluru 👏👏
Skipper Rohit Sharma now has the most T20I wins as #TeamIndia Captain in Men’s Cricket 🙌 #INDvAFG | @ImRo45 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/0fnShdlqE1
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 17, 2024
We’ll Be 70 All Out – Rohan Gavaskar
Rohan Gavaskar stressed the importance of patience, noting that the loss of a couple of wickets could have led to a significantly lower total. Gavaskar mentioned that the batting duo adjusted their game plan according to the team’s situation.
“If we lose a wicket or two here, we’ll be 70 all out. We’re 90 all out. So let’s give ourselves a little bit of time, we have the ability to make up for it as the innings progresses. And they did, last five overs – 100. But this is a one-off. Normally, you want your teams to play in a different template. But to have that cricketing intelligence and the skillset to adapt and adjust and change your game, to what needs to be done, that is key,” Gavaskar added.
Rohit became the first batter to bat three times in a T20I match. The batter scored 13 and 11 runs in the two super overs, respectively. However, controversy arose as he returned to bat in the second super over despite retiring himself out on the last ball of the first one.
