‘On par with Dhoni’: Shastri’s big call on Rohit Sharma as captain
Ravi Shastri has lauded Rohit Sharma as ‘one of the all-time greats’ and believes his captaincy is at least on par with India great MS Dhoni.
Rohit Sharma’s stint as India’s T20I skipper was a memorable one. He overtook Dhoni as the most successful T20I captain with 49 wins in 62 matches. Dhoni had 41 victories from 72 games.
Shastri places the two on equal footing, calling Rohit ‘one of the best captains ever alongside Dhoni’ with both showing great tactical acumen in white-ball cricket.
“As a tactician, let's not forget that he's been an outstanding guy. He'll go down as one of the best captains ever alongside Dhoni,” Shastri said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
Ravi Shastri reflects on on Rohit Sharma's T20I legacy | ICC Review
“If you ask me who's better, I'd say both are on par when it comes to tactics in the white-ball game. I can't pay a bigger compliment to Rohit than that because you know what MS has done and the titles he has won.”
Rohit captained India to their first T20 World Cup title since 2007 in Barbados in June, where India were unbeaten in the whole campaign. They won eight out of their nine matches with one ending without a result.
“Rohit is not far behind and I thought tactically he was just outstanding in this year's (T20) World Cup,” Shastri continued. “Just the calmness, the ability to get a (Jasprit) Bumrah or a (Hardik) Pandya, or even an Axar Patel at just the right time when needed was great to see.”
India produced a strong comeback in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa, defending 30 runs in 30 balls with the Proteas still having six wickets in hand.
Bumrah’s two tight overs, Pandya’s important wickets, and Suryakumar Yadav’s sensational catch of David Miller all orchestrated under Rohit’s captaincy secured them their second title.
Shastri was all praise for Rohit, the batter too, who signs off from T20 Internationals leaving a big void behind.
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Rohit is “a giant in white-ball cricket”. His 14,846 runs, three double hundreds, 33 hundreds, and 87 fifties in ODIs and T20Is combined confirm Shastri’s claim. To add to that, he is a two-time ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (2007 and 2024) and ICC Champions Trophy winner and holds the record for most sixes in the shortest format.
“I think a giant in the white-ball game,” said Shastri. “One of the all-time greats. One of the best who have ever played. Will walk into any white-ball team they pick, irrespective of the era. Just because of the dynamic ability he has at the top.
“The thing with Rohit Sharma is he plays the big shots, he scores quickly, but they're all cricketing shots. What amazes me, there's not an element of sloppiness. I mean, it just shows how much time he has on his hands to play the best and the power – people forget that this man is explosive. He's got power.”
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This power game has helped him smash the joint-most T20I centuries (five) alongside dynamic Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.
“Just see the scores in that period of time. Three double hundreds in the one-day game. He's got hundreds in T20 cricket,” Shastri noted.
Shastri then clarified what sets Rohit apart from the others – his explosiveness. His exploits against the short ball are part of the cricket lore but his ability to destroy the spinners completes him.
“Compared to Virat Kohli, you know, Virat Kohli is more finesse, he's starts along the ground,” said Shastri. “This man is explosive. He's got the power to clear any ground in the world and take on the fast bowlers. He's got the shots for the quicks and he can destroy spin as well.