IPL 2023: Sunil Gavaskar Believes Rohit Sharma is an Underrated Captain

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar added that Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma is an underrated captain and he doesn’t get as much credit as his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) counterpart MS Dhoni. However, both Rohit and Dhoni led their teams to victory in their respective playoff games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. While CSK sealed their place in the final by beating Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 1, Mumbai beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator and will take on GT in Qualifier 2 on Friday, May 26.

Before the GT-MI clash, Gavaskar applauded Rohit’s captaincy in the knockout match against LSG. Referring to how he used Akash Madhwal to dismiss Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran off consecutive deliveries. He told India Today:

“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. 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.”

IPL 2023: “Rohit used Nehwal when MI were batting first against LSG” – Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar again added that everyone would have been praised had Dhoni done something similar.

He stated: “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.”

Sunil Gavaskar also praised Rohit Sharma for using a batter, Nehal Wadhera, as an Impact Substitute player in spite of the fact that MI were batting first in the Eliminator as well. Talking about that teams prefer using a bowler as an Impact Player in the first innings, he said:

“What I am saying is Rohit Sharma did not get the credit for telling Madhwal to bowl round the wicket. 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.”