Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir opined that Rohit Sharma has given a lot more security of place to his players in the current team than what was provided to the Indian players under Virat Kohli in 2019.
India have swept aside all opponents in the league stage of the World Cup 2023, and have a perfect 9-0 record heading into the semi-final against New Zealand. This is the perfect opportunity for Team India to bury the scars that the Kiwis gave them and the Indian fans in the 2019 WC semi-final in Manchester.
Gautam Gambhir lavished rich praises on captain Rohit Sharma. He reckoned the supreme on-field performances from the Indian players have come from the security and assuredness of their places given to the players by captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid. This is something, Gambhir feels, which was lacking under Kohli and Shastri.
There were so many changes that happened in 2019: Gautam Gambhir
India have had to make only forced changes in the side in the World Cup, because of dengue to Shubman Gill and then injury to Hardik Pandya, and one tactical change was made when R Ashwin played in Chennai over Shardul Thakur.
Apart from this, no player has been dropped or has seen his position and role change in the side. Even when Mohammed Siraj and Shreyas Iyer didn’t perform in a couple of games at the start, Rohit backed them to come good, and they did. This is what Gautam Gambhir alluded to.
“There were so many changes that happened in 2019 as compared to the least amount of changes that has happened in 2023. A good captain and leader give you security, which makes the dressing room secure, not only for himself but for the other 14 players as well. And Rohit Sharma has done that. That’s why he has won five IPL trophies; that’s where his winning ratio when he started playing all those international games has been fabulous. If you go by the stats and the trophies, he ticks all the boxes,” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.
“But the most important thing is he has made that dressing room a very secure dressing room. When the captain comes out and talks in his post-match presentation that he believes in his players and gives them longer runs, it makes you believe how much your captain is backing you. And that is the difference between Rohit Sharma as a leader, compared to some other captains that have captained previously for India.”
