Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting has voiced his support for Rohit Sharma as India’s captain in the ICC World Cup 2023. India has started the tournament with three convincing wins, positioning themselves at the top of the points table. They defeated Australia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Ponting believes Rohit’s laid-back and calm demeanor makes him an ideal captain to lead India to their third ODI World Cup title, especially given the added pressure of performing in front of home fans. Rohit took over the captaincy from Virat Kohli in December 2021, allowing Kohli to focus on his batting.
“Someone like Virat, who is a bit more heart-on-the-sleeve, and probably listens to the fans and plays up with the fans a little bit more, someone with his personality would probably find it a bit harder,” Ricky Ponting said.
Ponting talks about Rohit Sharma
Ponting highlighted Rohit’s laid-back playing style and his ability to handle the captaincy responsibilities, even under intense pressure. He described Rohit as a “terrific bloke” and a “great player.” Under Rohit’s leadership, India last won the World Cup in 2011, and Ponting believes he is the right person to lead the team to another victory, especially with India’s strong team in this edition of the World Cup.
“I think Rohit will be fine with it. He’s a terrific bloke and has been a great player for a long time, and he’s done a great job as leader of India,” he added.
“We can’t sit back and say that the pressure won’t get to them (India) at some stage, or it won’t affect them, because it will, just with the enormity of the tournament.
“But he’ll (Rohit) take it and cope with it as well as probably anyone,” he said.
Ponting also noted that India’s squad has all bases covered with a talented team featuring fast bowlers, spinners, and a strong batting lineup. He believes that India is the team to beat in the ongoing World Cup. While praising India’s well-rounded team, he acknowledged that they would still face significant pressure in the tournament due to its enormity. India’s next match will be against Bangladesh in Pune.
“I said from the start that I think they’re going to be the team to beat. They’ve got a very talented team,” he said. “They’ve got all bases covered with their fast bowling, their spin and their top-order, middle-order batting. They’re going to be extremely hard to beat. But we’ll see how they hold up under extreme pressure as well,” Ponting concluded.
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