rohit: Rohit is crucial as both batter and captain for India to realise their T20 World Cup dreams

It hasn’t even been a year since Rohit Sharma took over as full-time captaincy in T20Is. Earlier, he had led India in the absence of Virat Kohli. What Rohit did with that team matters little (15 wins and 4 losses) as it was Kohli’s team; Made, prepared, raised, molded as per Kohli’s vision.

What matters is what he does with the team he has now; How he shapes it, pushes it and supports it. But more important than everything else, can he lead this team to the world title? Right or wrong but their decision will be based only on the success of their team in ICC events. For example, Kohli had a better success rate (70.43%) as captain in ODIs than MS Dhoni (59.52%), but the latter was always considered a better captain to lead India to the world title in 2011. will be considered.

We know that Rohit’s team flopped in the Asia Cup T20 only last month. But we also know that he is a more successful T20 captain than his predecessor Kohli. He has led Mumbai Indians to five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles, five more than Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He already has more T20I wins (35 in 45 matches) than Kohli (30 in 50). But the real challenge begins on September 23 when India take on Pakistan in their opening T20 World Cup game.

Another failure to win a title, if it actually happens, may not take away his captaincy, but it may take some shine from his leadership record, which has been criticized for criticizing the former captain during Kohli’s reign. There was a lot of tom-tom.

But beyond the results, there has been a marked change in approach under Rohit’s leadership. Since January this year, India’s average runs per over (RPO) in T20Is has gone up to 9.36 – the best among teams that have played at least 10 matches – from 8.04 in the period between January 2021 and the T20 World Cup in November 2021. till the end of 2022 was also India’s best year in terms of RPO where he played more than one match.

“After the T20 World Cup in Dubai, when we didn’t qualify” [for the semi-finals]“We realized that there is a need to change our approach, the way we play the game,” Rohit told Star Sports in August this year. “So, we had a clear message to the boys and they would take the challenge. were ready to accept.”

But for the Indian team, Rohit is not the only one to move the fielders and call the bowlers. He is one of their best batsmen, who has the responsibility of giving a good and steady start on his shoulders. In T20, where risk taking is not an option but a necessity, associating ‘good’ with ‘stable’ is harder than it sounds. And when you’re also the captain, it makes a level more difficult.

However, Rohit spoke and led by example. The improvement in his powerplay strike rate in T20Is shows his commitment to the new approach. From January 2019 to the end of the 2021 T20 World Cup, he scored 139.07 in the powerplays. His powerplay strike rate has gone up to 147.85 since the beginning of this year.

His overall strike rate this year has also gone up to 146.42 as compared to 144.82 during the January 2019 to 2021 T20 World Cup – second best behind New Zealand’s Finn Allen (1 5 0. 4 8). Hence, Rohit is doubly important to India’s chances of bringing home the Cup after 15 years.

Originally published at Pen 18