"The dynamic with Kohli is remarkable" - Michael Vaughan lauds Indian skipper Rohit Sharma
Former England captain Michael Vaughan praised Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for his incredible dynamic with Virat Kohli and managing all the other facets to perfection as a leader.
Team India have been in terrific form through the 2023 World Cup, winning all 10 games and advancing to the final without a sweat. Led by Rohit, the Men in Blue have breezed through the tournament and will take on Australia in the grand finale.
In his column for Telegraph Cricket, Vaughan admired Rohit for taking over the captaincy from long-time skipper Kohli yet maintaining the perfect dynamic.
"The dynamic with Kohli is remarkable. Kohli was captain for such a long time, and the most famous player in the game. Someone then knocked on his door to say that he wouldn’t be the captain anymore. For Rohit to take that on and manage all the different facets so well, is superb," wrote Vaughan.
The 2005 Ashes-winning skipper also praised Rohit's captaincy when India faced their first hurdle of the tournament in the semi-final against New Zealand.
"In the semi-final, India just had their first little wobble in the field. They had not fielded that well and the bowling wasn’t quite on, giving away too many extras. Rohit brought the team together at drinks, and they turned it around. I have no idea what he said, but it worked," Vaughan added.
Rohit Sharma has been in sparkling form with the bat, scoring 550 runs at an average of 55 and a strike rate of 124.15.
Meanwhile, Kohli is the leading run-scorer of the World Cup, with 711 runs at an other-worldly 101.57 average, including three centuries and five half-centuries.
"It’s not been a great tournament overall" - Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan felt India would be the worthy winners of the 2023 World Cup should they get over the line in the final. He also admitted to the tournament being a dampner overall.
Despite Pakistan and Afghanistan making a late push for the semi-final, the top four teams became a foregone conclusion for most of the second half of the tournament.
"India would be worthy World Cup winners if they could get over the line, but it’s not been a great tournament overall. There have just not been many close games. There have probably been four genuinely close games? In a 48-match tournament, that’s not enough. We’ve seen special moments, whether that’s Glenn Maxwell’s fastest World Cup hundred, his double-hundred, or Kohli’s 50th century, but there just hasn’t been that competitive edge of close games," wrote Vaughan.
While India will be playing their third ODI World Cup final, it will be a record eighth for the Aussies. The two teams last met in a World Cup final in 2003, when the Men in Yellow came out on top by 125 runs at Johanessburg.
The summit clash will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19.