“It is the way you bat or bowl that makes you selfless” - Gautam Gambhir on Rohit Sharma's leadership in 2023 World Cup
Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir hailed captain Rohit Sharma for playing a selfless brand of cricket in the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup.
Rohit has amassed 442 runs from eight innings in the tournament so far with one hundred and a couple of half-centuries to show.
Gambhir believes it is the kind of starts that the senior opener has been giving and the way he has led by example with the bat is what is making all the difference for the Men in Blue.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, here's what Gautam Gambhir had to say about Rohit Sharma (0:30):
"I have said this about Rohit Sharma already. Just laughing around with teammates and speaking well about them in the media doesn't make you selfless. You can still be selfish by trying to look to score your runs. But it is the way you bat or bowl that makes you selfless."
He further added (0:57):
"Rohit said that the team is looking to play aggressively and he has led by example. If he wanted to, he could have easily scored a hundred in 25 overs. So he has been selfless by his actions and not just words."
Gautam Gambhir on Rohit Sharma's impact on dressing room
Gautam Gambhir was also impressed with how Rohit Sharma threw his weight behind Shreyas Iyer in one of his post-match interviews. The former cricketer feels that it is an important trait of a good captain to ensure the players in the team feel secure.
Gambhir stated (1:20):
"A selfless leader also brings security in the dressing room. He said that 'Een if Shreyas wouldn't have performed, I would have backed him.' This is how you give confidence to the dressing room. If you drop someone after three games, the whole dressing room becomes insecure. This is the reason why India have been doing well as they have a leader who is calm and not obsessed."
India will hope Rohit scores big with the crucial knockout stage of the tournament approaching as they chase their third ODI World Cup title.