Australia’s World Cup-winning skipper Ricky Ponting believes that Rohit Sharma is an ideal candidate to lead the Indian team for their third ODI World Cup title. The Men in Blue has been one of the best teams winning three out of three games so far in the tournament.
India’s Cricket World Cup campaign got off to a strong start with emphatic victories against Australia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The three victories have helped India to rise to the top of the standings, dispelling worries about how the hosts would handle the added pressure of playing in front of the home crowd.
Speaking on ICC, Ricky Ponting feels that Rohit Sharma is a very easy-going and relaxed guy in the Indian team and said that the home team would face pressure at some point during the tournament and that Rohit Sharma would be the ideal player to handle the challenging scenarios that may arise.
“He’s very laid back, Rohit. Very laid back with everything he does. You can even see that by the way that he plays. He’s a pretty laconic sort of batsman as well, and that’s the way he is both on and off the field”.
“We can’t sit back and say that the pressure won’t get to them at some stage, or it won’t affect them, because it will, just with the enormity of the tournament. But he’ll take it and cope with it as well as probably anyone,” Ricky Ponting said.
The Men in Blue will be one of the favourites to win the championship, as they have almost a full-strength squad and well-settled unit heading the primary 50-over competition in the World and they will look to continue their fine form going forward in the tournament.
We’ll See How They Hold Up Under Extreme Pressure As Well – Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting said that the Indian team is the favourite in the tournament on their home soil as they have got a brilliant team in the marquee event. He also claimed that the team has all of their bases covered with suitable fast bowling, spin bowling, and batting options and that it will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure in high-stress games.
“I said from the start that I think they’re going to be the team to beat. They’ve got a very talented team, They’ve got all bases covered with their fast bowling, their spin, and their top-order, middle-order batting. They’re going to be extremely hard to beat. But we’ll see how they hold up under extreme pressure as well,” Ricky Ponting added.
Experienced players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah have stepped in for the team in crucial games and these players have the ability to make a significant difference in the game at any point in time and they will looking to win the championship in India after 12 long years.
