Yuvraj Singh rates Rohit Sharma's captaincy amid scathing criticism following India's loss to Bangladesh
Amid the scathing criticism, former India all-rounder and Rohit Sharma's teammate Yuvraj Singh has rated the India skipper's captaincy.
Rohit Sharma had a wonderful start to his India captaincy tenure, but the failure to win big tournaments has only increased the criticism surrounding his leadership skills. Before taking over as India's full-time captain in November of 2021, Rohit has won multiple bilateral series at home against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies. However, a Super 4 finish in the Asia Cup and then a defeat to England in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup has only seen a sharp rise in the number of Rohit detractors.
Things took a turn for the worse when India lost to Bangladesh in the first ODI at Dhaka on Sunday. After India put up an underwhelming show with the bat, getting all out for 186 with 10 overs to go, Bangladesh chased it down to win a thriller by one wicket. India had Bangladesh on the mat at 136/9, but a fighting unbeaten last-wicket stand worth 51 runs saw Mehidy Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman take their team home in a memorable victory.
Amid the scathing criticism, former India all-rounder and Rohit's ex-teammate Yuvraj Singh has rated the India skipper's captaincy. Replying to a query from SportsKeeda, Yuvraj gave Rohit's captaincy a 10 out of 10 rating, despite India's latest string of disappointing results.
A closer look at stats indicates that Yuvraj's judgment might not be entirely wrong. Since captaining India for the first time in 2017, filling in for Virat Kohli, Rohit has led India in 70 matches across formats, winning 54 of those with a decent win percentage of 77.14. Rohit has a fine record in ODIs, winning 13 matches out of 17. His record in T20Is is even better – he has led India in most T20I matches after MS Dhoni – one more than Kohli – and out of 51, Rohit won 39 and lost 12.
Having said that, Rohit's tenure as India's T20I captain might have come to an end with the Indian team paving the way for future. After India's exit from the T20 World Cup in Australia, Hardik Pandya led the team in New Zealand for a three-T20I series. Hardik, who won the IPL 2022 with Gujarat Titans in his first-ever season as captain, is the likely candidate to replace Rohit as India's next T20I captain. By the time the next T20 World Cup comes knocking in 2024, Rohit would be 37, and the belief is that he along with Virat Kohli will pretty much be out of the reckoning.
