Rohit Sharma will go down as one of the best captains alongside MS Dhoni in Indian cricket history, claimed Ravi Shastri. This comes after Rohit Sharma called time on his T20I career after winning the T20 World Cup 2024 for the Indian team.
Rohit has enjoyed a successful run as skipper across formats since taking over the mantle. Rohit led India to the ICC World Test Championship and ODI World Cup finals in 2023, where they finished second to Australia.
Interestingly, Rohit has only lost 12 of India’s 62 T20Is, with a win percentage of 79.03, the highest among all captains who have led in at least 60 games.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri hailed Rohit’s nous as a tactician, placing him on par with Dhoni who is considered the most accomplished Indian captain with three ICC titles to his name.
“As a tactician, let’s not forget that he’s (Rohit) been an outstanding guy. He’ll go down as one of the best captains ever alongside Dhoni. If you ask me who’s better, I’d say both are on par when it comes to tactics in the white-ball game. I can’t pay a bigger compliment to Rohit than that because you know what MS has done and the titles he has won.
Rohit is not far behind and I thought tactically he was just outstanding in this year’s (T20) World Cup. Just the calmness, the ability to get a (Jasprit) Bumrah or a (Hardik) Pandya, or even an Axar Patel at just the right time when needed was great to see,” Shastri said on ICC Review.
Rohit also broke MS Dhoni’s record of 42 wins for India at the last T20 World Cup, in which his team went unbeaten in nine matches.
Rohit Sharma is a white-ball giant: Ravi Shastri
Shastri also praised the Mumbaikar’s dominance in limited-overs cricket. The 37-year-old has scored over 14,000 runs in ODIs and T20Is, including 36 hundreds, three double centuries, and 87 fifties.
To add to that, he is a two-time ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (2007 and 2024) and ICC Champions Trophy winner and holds the record for most sixes in the shortest format.
“I think a giant in the white-ball game. One of the all-time greats. One of the best who have ever played. Will walk into any white-ball team they pick, irrespective of the era. Just because of the dynamic ability he has at the top.
The thing with Rohit Sharma is he plays the big shots, he scores quickly, but they’re all cricketing shots. What amazes me, there’s not an element of sloppiness. I mean, it just shows how much time he has on his hands to play the best and the power – people forget that this man is explosive. He’s got power,” said Shastri.
Shastri then clarified what sets Rohit apart from the others – his explosiveness. His exploits against the short ball are part of the cricket lore but his ability to destroy the spinners completes him.
“Just see the scores in that period of time. Three double hundreds in the one-day game. He’s got hundreds in T20 cricket.
Compared to Virat Kohli, you know, Virat Kohli is more finesse, he starts along the ground. This man is explosive. He’s got the power to clear any ground in the world and take on the fast bowlers. He’s got the shots for the quicks and he can destroy spin as well,” Shastri signed off.
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