Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has praised Rohit Sharma for making the dressing room secure to get the best out of his teammates and reach the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 semifinal stage unscathed.
Rohit has led Mumbai Indians (MI) to five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles. Gambhir feels that his handling of resources is the reason he has been successful as a captain.
"A good captain and leader give you security, which makes the dressing room secure, not only for himself but for the other 14 players as well. And Rohit Sharma has done that," Gambhir told Star Sports.
"That's why he has won five IPL trophies. That's where his winning ratio when he started playing all those international games has been fabulous. If you go by the stats and the trophies, he ticks all the boxes. But the most important thing is he has made that dressing room a very secure dressing room."
While Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer of the tournament, Rohit is fourth on the list with 503 runs from nine innings at an average of 55.89 including one century and three half-centuries.
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch is in awe of Rohit's aggressive approach against the new-ball bowlers which has often resulted in a good start.
"The thought process behind Rohit is he's trying to get the team off to a quick start. You see, the wicket tends to get slower as the tournament has gone on. So, that initial powerplay to put pressure on the opposition is really crucial.
"I think what that's done is it's changed the bowler's mindset before the game has even started, knowing that Rohit is going to come really hard at them," Finch said.
Rohit is the prime six-hitter of the ongoing World Cup with 24 sixes. He is slightly ahead of Australia's Glenn Maxwell who has hit 22 sixes followed by South Africa’s Quinton de Kock (21), Australia’s David Warner (21), and Mitchell Marsh (21).
Rohit will face a stiff challenge when India take on New Zealand in the semifinal at Wankhede Stadium where the new ball poses a challenge, especially under the lights.
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