‘Opposition teams start panicking a bit and maybe go into a defensive mode early on’: Rohit Sharma’s aggressive captaincy lauded by former Australian legends

Rohit Sharma has made it a point to attack the opposition bowling with the new ball in every match. This has helped India to put the early pressure on the opposition

India's Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma teammates celebrate an England wicket. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

India's Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

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Rohit Sharma’s aggressive captaincy has played a key role in India’s domination of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 league stage. The Indian skipper has led from the front, both with his bat and with his tactical nous, and has been instrumental in his team’s consecutive victories.

Rohit’s aggressiveness has also been reflected in his captaincy. He has not been afraid to take risks, and has often made bold decisions that have paid off handsomely.

India, in pursuit of its third World Cup title, beat Australia and Pakistan with ease, then trounced England South Africa and New Zealand and ultimately beat the Netherlands on Sunday to make it nine out of nine wins in the league stage.

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Rohit’s aggressive captaincy has helped to create a winning mindset in the Indian team, and this has not gone unnoticed, with former Australian stalwarts praising the Indian skipper

Speaking to Star Sports, former Australia cricketer Aaron Finch spoke on Rohit Sharma’s aggressive approach in the powerplay and said “The thought process behind Rohit is he’s trying to get the team off to a quick start. You see, the wicket tends to get slower as the tournament has gone on. So, that initial powerplay to put pressure on the opposition is really crucial.”

“I think what that’s done is it’s changed the bowler’s mindset before the game has even started, knowing that Rohit’s going to come really hard at them. They start panicking a bit and maybe go into a defensive mode early on, and that plays into his hands as India has gotten off to some brilliant starts,” he added.

Former Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden also spoke on how Rohit’s aggressive approach has helped the middle order flourish, and explained saying, “Rohit Sharma has been really aggressive in this World Cup tournament. When you think about the mindset of what that means for his side, one is he has made the batting look easy, and two is he has a strike rate of 130 inside the powerplay. That has allowed the middle order, especially Virat Kohli, to just set out and put on that computer brain of his and work out exactly what needs to happen. He’s been a marquee player for India for some time, missed out in 2011, mind you, come 2023 he is not missing out.”