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Exclusive: Rohit does not get as enough much credit as MS Dhoni for his captaincy, says Sunil Gavaskar

Rohit Sharma should get more credit for his captaincy, says Sunil Gavaskar after the IPL 2023 Eliminator between MI and LSG

SportsTak

• Thu • 25 May 2023

Rohit Sharma did not receive any credit for some of the decisions that he took in the all-important Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Eliminator between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), believes former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar

Courtesy of Akash Madhwal's fifer in the second innings of the match on Wednesday, May 24, MI secured a shot at reaching their seventh IPL final, and Gavaskar pointed out some of the captaincy decisions by Rohit that bore fruit on the night.

Speaking exclusively to India Today, he pinpointed how Rohit used Akash to take the wickets of Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran in the same over of LSG's chase. "Of course, he is underrated. The man has won 5 titles for Mumbai Indians. Let me give you an example. Madhwal got Ayush Badoni, bowling over the wicket. He then went round the wicket to the left-hander Nicholas Pooran," Gavaskar said.

"Not a lot of bowlers necessarily do that because if they get their rhythm going bowling over the wicket, they will stick to over the wicket even it's a left-hander, trying to leave the left-hander. But he went around the wicket and produced an absolute gem of a delivery and got the man out.

"If that had been CSK and Dhoni was the captain. Everybody would have said 'Dhoni plotted Nicholas Pooran's dismissal. This is what happens to a great extent. There is also a little bit of hype, things sometimes work out," he added.

Perfect Rohit Sharma captaincy during LSG vs MI IPL 2023 eliminator

Gavaskar was also of the opinion that including Nehal Wadhera as an Impact Substitute in the first innings of the Eliminator against LSG was a bright decision and something different from the usual. Nehal Wahdera hit a crucial 23 off just 12 balls, giving Mumbai the much-needed late impetus to help them post a winning total of 182.

"What I am saying is Rohit Sharma did not get the credit for telling Madhwal to bowl round the wicket," Gavaskar said. "The captaincy situation as well. Remember, Nehal Wadhera was used as an impact player batting first. Teams generally don't use batters as Impact Player when they are batting first. But Rohit used Nehwal when MI were batting first against LSG. So please give him credit for that as well."

Mumbai Indians will face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 26.