“If that had been CSK and Dhoni was the captain..”: Gavaskar fires shot calling Rohit Shamra underappreciated

Former India captain and sports great Sunil Gavaskar believes that Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma is underappreciated in the Indian Premier League and that MS Dhoni, the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, receives more credit for his leadership abilities.

In the IPL 2023 Eliminator on May 24, when the two teams met in Chennai, Gavaskar emphasised how the India captain planned to defeat Lucknow Super Giants. He claimed that several of Rohit’s on-field decisions that support Mumbai’s success had already been sufficiently explored.

Sunil Gavaskar commended the Mumbai Indians for their confidence despite a poor start to this season’s lucrative event. MI came back to win five of their next seven games and make the playoffs after losing four of their first seven games and finishing last in the IPL 2023 points standings. Gavaskar commented on Rohit Sharma’s strategies in an interview with India Today. He added that Rohit Sharma proposed a change in angle during the dismissals of rookie batsman Ayush Badoni and Windies star Nicholas Pooran, which was not widely discussed.

Gavaskar said

“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 if it’s a left-hander, trying to leave the left-hander,” Gavaskar said.

“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. This is what happens to a great extent. There is also a little bit of hype, things sometimes work out,” he added.

Mumbai Indians thrashed Lucknow Super Giants by 81 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday after successfully holding off 182 runs. After cameo appearances from Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav in the first innings, Mumbai used Akash Madhwal’s sensational five-wicket haul to completely destroy the Krunal Pandya-led 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,” Gavaskar concluded.

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