"His captaincy was the standout Indian performance of the tournament"- Sunil Gavaskar hails Rohit Sharma's leadership in 2024 T20 World Cup
Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has hailed Rohit Sharma and called his captaincy the standout performance of the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA. Under Rohit, the Indian side pulled off the remarkable feat of becoming the first-ever team to win the T20 World Cup without losing a single game.
The 37-year-old joined Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni as the only Indian captains to win a World Cup. While Kapil led India to their first-ever World Cup title in 1983, Dhoni captained the side to the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup triumphs.
When asked to pick his standout performance of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Gavaskar responded on an India Today show:
"There were several. The main man running the show was Rohit Sharma. So Rohit's captaincy is something that has to be admired because never once during tense situations did his body language go down. Yes, we have all got used to some of his grimaces but that's okay. The way he handled the situation when it was not looking good for India, that is deserving of the highest praise. That is why his captaincy was the standout Indian performance of the tournament for me."
Besides his incredible captaincy, Rohit also played several crucial knocks for India, most notably against Australia in the final Super Eight game and England in the semi-final.
The 37-year-old finished as India's leading run-scorer in the tournament with 257 runs at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of 156.70.
"Pretty much at the top because of the expectations factor" - Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar picked India's 2024 T20 World Cup triumph as their best achievement because of the pressure of expectations on the team.
The Men in Blue had not won an ICC event since 2013 and repeatedly faltered at the semi-final and final stages over the past decade.
When asked on the India Today where he would rank this title, Gavaskar responded:
"It's going to be pretty much at the top because of the expectations factor, the pressure of expectations that this team had over the last 17 years, ever since India won the first ever T20 World Cup in 2007. Then the IPL started in 2008, where India got to play so many T20 matches with and against some of the best players in the world. India were expected to win the T20 World Cup after that practically every single time."
"This time around, the pressure was even more because the last couple of times, India got to the semifinals and the finals but were not able to win it. So the pressure was at its peak. Therefore, to come through that pressure and win is absolutely terrific," he added.
India became only the third team after the West Indies and England to win multiple T20 World Cup titles.