Sunil Gavaskar on Rohit Sharma’s captaincy: “Added responsibility makes him better”

Sunil Gavaskar on Rohit Sharma’s captaincy: Sunil Gavaskar believes that added responsibility brings out the best from Rohit Sharma.

Sunil Gavaskar, former India captain and the first batsman ever to cross the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket, was wax lyrical about stand-in India captain Rohit Sharma and the way he has captained the Indian team during the ongoing Asia Cup.

Sharma was appointed the captain after Virat Kohli was rested for the tournament. Apart from leading the team in Kohli’s absence, Sharma has also been among the runs in the tourney.

In the six ODIs that Sharma has played as captain, he scored 375 runs at an astounding average of 93.75 and a strike rate of 108.69. In these six matches, Sharma has scored a double century and a couple of half-centuries.

In an interview with India Today, Gavaskar was quoted, “The first time he led Mumbai Indians to an IPL win, that was his first season as a captain and he impressed straight away with his knowledge of what to do next more than what to plan. I think the planning takes place inside the dressing room but that plan can actually go awry and for that, you need a captain to take on the spot decisions.”

Also talking about Sharma’s skills with the bat while being the captain, Gavaskar said, “Over here as well, every time he has got an opportunity to captain India, he has shown his acumen and he has shown how patient he can be and then as a batsman, the added responsibility, only makes him better.”

Ravindra Jadeja, who had made his comeback in India’s last match against Bangladesh, ended up collecting the ‘Man of the Match’ award and heaps of praise for his performance. Gavaskar was of the opinion that Jadeja should be a regular member in India’s limited-overs squad.

“I think Ravindra Jadeja merits his place because I believe he is a better bowler, batsman, and fielder but what the selection committee thinks, we will see in the next few months”, he added.

Read some of the recent tweets on Rohit Sharma’s performance during the Asia Cup: