India's wait for another ICC trophy continued as they lost by 209 runs in the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval, their fourth defeat in a tournament final and second successive in WTC. It was also the second-straight time that India failed to grab an ICC trophy under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, who was picked as Virat Kohli's successor and backed to emulate what he achieved with Mumbai Indians in IPL. However, after the twin failure as India skipper, Sourav Ganguly defended Rohit with a bizarre remark comparing IPL with World Cup and the former BCCI president was shown no mercy for the statement.
It was during Ganguly's BCCI presidency tenure when Rohit was named as India's all-format skipper. And based on his run as captain of Mumbai Indians, the team which he led to five IPL titles, Ganguly and most others were confident that India would gain similar success under his captaincy. But the team suffered a semi-final exit in T20 World Cup last year before Australia thoroughly dominated India in the WTC final last week.'
ALSO READ: ‘How does social media influence?': Ganguly shuts Rohit-Dravid trolls amid replacement calls; ‘they are best for India’
However, Ganguly continued to defend Rohit despite the massive criticism for his captaincy calls in the match as he told India Today in an interview that winning the IPL is more difficult that winning a World Cup.
“I have full faith on Rohit. He and MS Dhoni have won 5 IPL titles. Winning the IPL isn’t easy because it’s a tough tournament. Winning the IPL is more difficult than winning a World Cup as there are 14 matches after which you take part in the playoffs. In the World Cup, it takes only 4-5 matches for a place in the semis. In the IPL, it takes 17 matches for you to become champions,” he said.
Here is how Twitter reacted to it…
{{/usCountry}}“I have full faith on Rohit. He and MS Dhoni have won 5 IPL titles. Winning the IPL isn’t easy because it’s a tough tournament. Winning the IPL is more difficult than winning a World Cup as there are 14 matches after which you take part in the playoffs. In the World Cup, it takes only 4-5 matches for a place in the semis. In the IPL, it takes 17 matches for you to become champions,” he said.
Here is how Twitter reacted to it…
{{/usCountry}}The former India captain still believes that Rohit is best man to end the team's ICC trophy drought since 2013 Champions Trophy.
“The selectors needed a captain after Virat left and Rohit was the best that time. He had won 5 IPL trophies and done well at the international level as well; he won the Asia Cup. He was the best option. India also played in the final of the Test championship, although we lost.
“Even two years ago, we lost the WTC final. We reached the semis of the T20 World Cup. So, the selectors picked that person who was the best for the job,” Ganguly said.