IPL 2020: Irfan Pathan Draws Comparison Of Rohit Sharma With MS Dhoni And Sourav Ganguly

Former India all-rounder, Irfan Pathan opined that Mumbai Indians captain, Rohit Sharma is a mixture of MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly. Pathan’s comments in regards to the way Sharma deals with his bowling changes and his tactics on the field.

Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians to their fifth IPL title and ended the debate of the best team in the IPL. He was given MI’s captaincy mid-season from Ricky Ponting in 2013. As a captain, Rohit has the highest win percentage in the IPL amongst those who have captained at least 10 matches.

Under the leadership of Rohit, the franchise won the IPL trophy in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. The right-hander was also a key member of the now-defunct Deccan Chargers which won the title in 2009 under Adam Gilchrist.

Rohit is a mixture of Dhoni and Ganguly: Irfan Pathan

With Rohit winning the fifth title for MI, the talks of making him the captain for the Indian team in the T20 format have only become stronger. Irfan Pathan even went on hail the MI skipper as a mixture of former India captains, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni.

While Dhoni has an unmatched record with three ICC tournaments, Ganguly led India to several memorable victories outside the subcontinent. Irfan Pathan, who played for a long time under Ganguly and then under Dhoni for the Indian team praised the presence of mind of Sharma in nervy match situations in the IPL 2020.

The left-arm seamer said that it was smart and bold of Rohit to bring in Jayant Yadav for the final as someone else would have got another seamer, however, the MI skipper used his instincts which showed the clarity in his mind about his plans. Jayant Yadav picked the important wicket of Shikhar Dhawan and vindicated Rohit’s move.

Irfan Pathan feels that there is a resemblance between Dhoni and Ganguly with Rohit in the way he has handled his bowlers. Like the former Indian skippers, the Baroda all-rounder believes that Rohit trusts his bowlers and takes decisions with his gut.

In a report in India Today, Irfan Pathan was quoted saying, “The way he used Yadav showed his class. Any captain would have gone with a seamer. Rohit used his instinct. It showed how clear was his thinking. It showed that he’s a bowlers’ captain. He is a mixture of Dhoni and Ganguly. Ganguly trusted his bowlers and went by it. Dhoni trusted his bowlers but always took decisions with an instinct.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator observed in one of the game that Rohit bowled Bumrah in the 17th over and not the 19th, where the pacer generally bowls and that tactic titled the match in Mumbai’s favour.

He also heaped praises on how Rohit has shrewdly got the overs from Kieron Pollard. Since Hardik Pandya wasn’t bowling, Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard constituted the fifth bowler. The West Indian is an effective bowler on slow wickets where the ball sticks in the pitch- which is how Rohit used him, that impressed Pathan.

“One of the games was getting close, so he used Bumrah in the 17th over, though he usually uses Bumrah in the 18th. Bumrah brought the game back in MI’s favour.

“Look at the way he used Pollard, he didn’t make him bowl initially but when wicket had double pace he used Pollard,” Irfan Pathan added.

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