Ahead of a home World Cup for India, former Pakistan quick Shoaib Akhtar has weighed in with a critical assessment of the team’s skipper Rohit Sharma, suggesting that he “panics” in pressure situations, adding that India rue the absence of a calm skipper like MS Dhoni.
In an interview on Backstage With Boria, Shoaib termed the lack of composure in India’s captaincy as one of the reasons for the team’s inability to clinch a global title.
“There was once a guy who would take the entire team’s pressure upon himself – that was Dhoni,” Akhtar said. “Only a captain can shield the entire team behind him. Rohit is a great guy, but he cripples during captaincy, he panics. These might be harsh words, but I don’t think he should have taken up the captaincy.”
Akhtar even opined that Sharma, who’s often praised for his languid, easy-looking strokeplay, is more talented with the bat than Virat Kohli. But he raised his doubts on whether he’s cut out for India captaincy, saying that the 36-year-old should be self-critical of his leadership.
“Even Virat Kohli isn’t as talented as him,” Akhtar continued. “The timing he has and the shots he can play…he is a classical batter – but was he made for captaincy? I question myself most of the time. Does he react well in most of critical situations? I question myself. He should also be questioning it”.
The Indian team has a jam-packed calendar in the coming months, with important events lined up till the end of the year. The Asia Cup 2023 and Asian Games 2023 will be followed by a big-ticket event at home – the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. The coveted trophy has eluded the hosts since their triumph in 2011 under MS Dhoni’s leadership. Further, the senior team is yet to end their ICC trophy drought since bagging the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Despite the criticism, Akhtar has wished that Rohit will prove his critics wrong, but maintained that India have failed to strike a balance between aggression and calm ever since Dhoni’s men clinched the 2013 Champions Trophy.
“No doubt he [Rohit] has the ability to win this World Cup,” the 48-year-old said, “because he has the home crowd behind him, he has the team and his talent behind him. Prove me wrong, prove everybody wrong – I am sure he has the ability to do that. But, I feel since 2013, India’s captaincy has crippled [under pressure], even under Kohli. Kohli used to get over-aggressive, Rohit panics”.
Since becoming full-time India captain in December 2021, Sharma has a win percentage of 74.07 in ODIs, with 20 wins from 27 games. He has scored 1,175 runs at an average and a strike-rate of 55.95 and 103.34, respectively.
