Former Australian opener Greg Blewett feels that Indian Skipper Rohit Sharma is not the ideal candidate to lead the Indian team going into the ODI World Cup on home soil. The Indian star opener failed to lead the Indian team to the ICC title in the 2022 T20 World Cup and WTC final.
Rohit Sharma is one of the renowned white-ball captains in the world, leading Mumbai Indians to five IPL championship titles. The Indian opener also led the Men in Blue to the 2018 Asia Cup and Nidahas Trophy titles, but he was unable to have a significant impact on India’s national team since taking up the mantle from Virat Kohli.
During a discussion on the WillowTalk Podcast, Greg Blewett expressed his worry over Rohit Sharma’s leadership coming into the ODI World Cup and believes that the Indian captain might not lead the team to a World Cup victory on home soil after a long wait of 12 years.
“I am worried about India’s ODI captain. I really am. Rohit Sharma is just clinging on, and I would have thought that India might have made a move by now on the one-day leadership. I just can see it going wrong again for India. They always get to these World Cups and they just don’t get it done and I’m just not sure that Rohit is getting it done for them,” Greg Blewett said.
Since taking over from star batsman Virat Kohli as a leader, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has struggled to get the most out of his team members, as evidenced by his team’s failure to win a major title in the Asia Cup in 2022, the T20 World Cup in 2022, or the WTC Final in 2023.
The 36-year-old’s leadership abilities will be put to the test as the team competes in the ongoing 2023 Asia Cup followed by ODI World Cup, where he will try to establish himself as the Indian captain at the highest level.
I Just See That Rohit Sharma Is Just Hanging By A Thread – Greg Blewett
Greg Blewett stated that he does not have the best response for the candidate who may succeed Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Indian team but believes that the Indian Opener no longer deserves to be the skipper of the Men in Blue going into the mega event in the country.
“Virat as a leader? I think he is done and I don’t know whether you can go back to him now. I don’t know, I just see that Rohit is just hanging by a thread. He is getting a game at the moment because he is captain. And I don’t know whether that’s the right way to go,” Greg Blewett added.
Many experts and fans believe that the India team should try to groom the next set of youngsters for leadership positions as Rohit Sharma is on the wrong side of his 30s, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah have led the team in recent times in the absence of the regular Indian skipper.