India captain Rohit Sharma has his legacy as a skipper hanging in balance, with the national set to embark upon two adventurous journeys in the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup. India’s failure to win an ICC title over the last decade has seen a plethora of changes in the leadership role being made. Virat Kohli took the Indian team to new heights but couldn’t bag an ICC title as a skipper. When India legend Sunil Gavaskar was asked about Rohit’s legacy as a skipper, he said the Hitman would be judged by the number of trophies he would win.
“At the end of the day you are judged by the number of trophies you have won, the numbers of wins you have. Winning these two tournaments will make him one of India’s greatest skippers,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Gavaskar shared his opinion on the Indian team’s preparedness for the World Cup too. While many experts feel the No. 4 conundrum is one of the team’s biggest problems in the ODI format, Gavaskar feels it’s the lack of all-rounders that remains a pain point.
“More than anything else, luck of the day is very important and if you look at the teams (in 1983, 1985 and 2011), they all had top class all-rounders. You had batters who could bowl 7-8-9 overs and bowlers who could bat down the order. That was the biggest plus of those teams. You see MSD’s team also: Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag could all bowl. It was the biggest plus. So, any team which has all-rounders (will hold the edge).
“You look at England who won last year’s T20 World Cup, look at the all-rounders they had. So, all-rounders are the key element,” said the 1983 World Cup-winning.
Gavaskar also feels India need a little bit of luck to go all the way in the tournament. Citing the example of the 2019 semi-final clash against New Zealand, the legendary cricketer said had the match ended in a single day, things could’ve been different for Kohli’s men.
“We have got immense talent, (but) in the knockout stage you need a little bit of luck on the day. If you look at our situation in the knockout stages where we have lost, we had ill-luck just about every time.
“At the last World Cup (2019) we had a match (semifinal versus New Zealand) which stretched into the second day. If it had gone the proper full day we might have had a different story, because the next day it was seaming conditions and the New Zealand bowlers could bowl well. So, I think you need a little bit of luck on the day. I mean there are four-five very good teams, so you need luck on the day.”
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