The former Indian wicket-keeper batter, Dinesh Karthik, has decided to ignore the T20 World Cup-winning captain of the national side, Rohit Sharma, as he picked the ‘no. 1 captain’ of the current world cricket. The regular Test captain of the blue brigade didn’t enjoy a great time in the five-match Test series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 down under.
With only 31 runs in five innings at an average of 6.20 off his blade, Rohit Sharma decided to drop himself for the fifth and final red-ball clash of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) as the premier pacer of the side Jasprit Bumrah, shouldered the responsibility of the side.
He finished the previous year 2024 in the longest format with the help of 619 red-ball runs in 26 innings at an average of 24.76 and a strike rate of 63.03 with the help of two centuries and as many half-centuries at the best score of 131. Questions have started to arise over his position for the upcoming squad of the Champions Trophy 2025, which is scheduled to take place from February 19 to March 09.
Rohit Sharma ditched as Pat Cummins is called the ‘no. 1 captain’ of world cricket
Dinesh Karthik, however, selected the Australian captain Pat Cummins as the current number one captain of World Cricket, who was appointed as the leader of the side in 2021 just before the home Ashes, which they went on to win by a 4-0 margin.
The experienced fast bowler led the side to their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) title in the second edition of 2021-23 before retaining the Ashes 2023 in England. He followed the sweet time with the ODI World Cup victory in India by defeating the home side in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, despite starting the campaign with defeats against the Blue Brigade and South Africa.
The biggest aim for him perhaps was to defeat India at home in a Test series to earn the BGT for the very first time since 2014-15. In the absence of Rohit Sharma during the series opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia was blown away by a 295-run defeat, but they didn’t lose hope and made a fine comeback in the series with three victories in the last four fixtures at the Adelaide Oval, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the SCG, while the third Test ended in a draw.
Cummins finished the BGT 2024-25 as the second leading wicket-taker in the series with 25 scalps in five games at an average of 21.36 in 167 overs, besides contributing 159 runs in eight innings at an average of just below 20. His battle over Rohit Sharma, who got out to the pace four times in the series, broke the latter down.
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Dinesh Karthik, on the recent episode of HeyCB with DK, addressed that the 31-year-old New South Wales pacer has been the most aggressive cricketer on the planet right now and has the ability to lead a group of men.
“I feel he (Cummins) is the most aggressive cricketer on the planet right now. And he doesn’t do it with talking or abusing. He does it with his body language, the way he handles the media, post-matches, and pre-matches. He has in it, he has in him the ability to lead a group of men, and for me, he is the number one captain in the world right now.” The former Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper explained.
In the series, the total runs of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill together was lesser than Cummins. He will not, however, be available for their two Tests in Sri Lanka.