Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar stated on Thursday that Rohit Sharma is an underrated captain in the Indian Premier League and doesn’t receive as much respect for leadership as MS Dhoni does. Gavaskar emphasised how the India skipper planned the defeat of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2023 Eliminator, highlighting some of Rohit’s on-field choices that help Mumbai Indians succeed. Follow IPL 2023 LIVE update with InsideSport.IN
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Sunil Gavaskar praised Mumbai Indians for having self-confidence despite a dismal IPL 2023 start. After losing four of their first seven games and falling to the bottom of the IPL 2023 points standings, MI recovered to win five of their next seven games to advance to the playoffs.
Mumbai Indians beat Lucknow Super Giants by 81 runs on Wednesday in Chennai, successfully defending 182 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Following cameos from Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai rode on Akash Madhwal’s incredible 5-wicket haul to knock out LSG.
“Of course, he is underrated. The man has won 5 titles for Mumbai Indians. Let me give you an example. Maddhwal got Ayush Badoni, bowling over the wicket. He then went round the wicket to the left-hander Nicholas Pooran,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“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 te 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 extend. There is also a little bit of hype, things sometimes work out,” he added.
Sunil Gavaskar said that Nehal Wadhera’s use as an Impact Substitute in the first innings of the Eliminator versus LSG was a wise decision, noting that most teams who bat first tend to employ a bowler as the Impact Player. Mumbai received the much-needed late push from Nehal Wahdera’s critical 23 off just 12 balls, which enabled them to score 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.”
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