Former Indian opening batter Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that Rohit Sharma doesn't quite get the credit as much as MS Dhoni for his captaincy achievements in IPL history. Gavaskar reckons Dhoni would have got tons of credit had Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni been dismissed under his captaincy in the Eliminator.
The 125-Test veteran heaped praise on Rohit for using Akash Madhwal shrewdly to get rid of Badoni and Pooran in the Eliminator game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Chepauk. The 73-year-old observed that the change of angle suggested by the skipper made the difference.
"Of course, he is underrated. The man has won 5 titles for Mumbai Indians. Let me give you an example. Maddhwal got Ayush Badoni, bowling over the wicket. He then went round the wicket to the left-hander Nicholas Pooran. Not a lot of bowlers necessarily do that because if they get their rhythm going bowling over the wicket, they will stick to over the wicket even it's a left-hander, trying to leave te left-hander. But he went around the wicket and produced an absolute gem of a delivery and got the man out. If that had been CSK and Dhoni was the captain. Everybody would have said 'Dhoni plotted Nicholas Pooran's dismissal'", Gavaskar told India Today.
Sunil Gavaskar lavishes praise on Rohit Sharma for using Nehal Wadhera as impact player in the first innings:
The cricketer-turned-commentator further observed how the left-field move of utilizing Nehal Wadhera as an impact player against LSG.
"What I am saying is Rohit Sharma did not get the credit for telling Madhwal to bowl round the wicket. The captaincy situation as well. Remember, Nehal Wadhera was used as an impact player batting first. Teams generally don't use batters as Impact Player when they are batting first. But Rohit used Nehwal when MI were batting first against LSG. So please give him credit for that as well."
Mumbai Indians will face the Gujarat Titans in the second qualifier on Friday in Ahmedabad.
