Rohit Sharma captaincy record in T20 International: The Indian all-format skipper has had a great journey so far while leading in T20Is.
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During the first T20I of the ongoing Australia tour of India at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, Australia have nailed a challenging run-chase by 4 wickets, to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
En route the target of 209, the Aaron Finch-led side were off to a fiery start, stitching a 39-run stand for the opening wicket in mere 3.3 Overs, with Cameron Green (61 off 30), opening the innings for the first time in Australian colours, decimating the Indian new ball bowlers right from the get-go.
Post Finch’s dismissal as well, Green carried on with his onslaught alongside Steve Smith next, as the duo stitched together a 70-run stand off mere 40 deliveries for the second wicket, to go up and running with the steep chase.
With 100 runs required off the last ten Overs, and nine wickets in the bank, Australia were in the driver’s seat despite losing three wickets within the next three Overs.
Thus, with the entire batting line-up having made up their minds to play risk-free Cricket, there was no stopping for the Aussies tonight, as they accomplished the target with four deliveries to spare.
Matthew Wade (45* off 21) handed some hefty blows during the 18th Over (22 runs) and the penultimate Over (16 runs) to show the Mohali crowd, that they are the World Champions for a reason.
Rohit Sharma captaincy record in T20 International (updated)**
In terms of number of wins, Rohit Sharma had, after team India’s victory versus Hong Kong in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022, become the second- most successful Indian skipper in the format, surpassing Virat Kohli (30 wins), with 31 wins across mere 37 T20Is.
Despite India losing the next matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka to crash out of the Asia Cup, and after losing tonight’s encounter versus Australia in Mohali, Rohit, is still India’s best T20I captain so far, in terms of win percentage, which currently stands at 77.50.
Overall, across 40 T20I matches as captain, the 35-year-old has notched-up 31 victories under his belt, while losing nine.
Rohit had been criticized by fans and experts, especially during the later half of the Asia Cup 2022, for bowling only five bowlers during the innings, despite them leaking runs aplenty, and having Deepak Hooda as an option as well.
Also, him dropping wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik after a lone game against Pakistan, where he played just a single delivery, did not make much of a sense, given he has been in the side as the team’s designated finisher.
Finally, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar failing to contain the batters for the third consecutive time in the 19th Over, his move to deploy him in the attack during this very Over despite failures, has made the fans scratch their heads, while continuously posing question marks on his tactics with each loss.
** With team India winning the three-match T20I series against Australia 2-1, with a 6-wicket victory in the final T20I, Rohit Sharma now has 33 wins off 42 T20Is under his belt, with an overall win percentage of 78.57.
