Gautam Gambhir created quite a stir on social media when he said that centuries are not greater than the team winning the match. The southpaw also lavished praise on Rohit Sharma by saying, “Rohit has led the way in the powerplay by playing an attacking brand of cricket. He could easily have scored 40-45 hundred, but he is putting the team first.” While Gambhir did not take a dig at anyone, Virat Kohli fans think Gambhir has taken an indirect dig at Kohli.
The RCB superstar is in the spotlight after he slowed a bit against New Zealand at Dharamshala when he was nearing a century. While Kohli eventually did not reach the magical three figures, he ensured there were no further hiccups for India in the run chase. However, Kohli’s slow approach has divided the world. Few thought he should not have slowed down and should have finished the match much earlier.
While few of the experts and fans felt there was no wrong in Kohli’s approach as India were comfortably placed to win the match. Now, Gambhir’s latest comments have added more fuel to the fire. The cricketer-turned-expert said Gautam Gambhir said, “You’ve to decide whether you aim to score a century or to win the World Cup, and Rohit Sharma is a selfless captain who wants to win the World Cup, and that’s the way he is batting.” (Hotstar).
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Does century really more important than the team?
A few months back, AB de Villiers defended Harsha Bhogle’s claims that it is always the team that comes first rather than individual milestones. Bhogle put out a Tweet when netizens blasted Hardik Pandya for denying Tilak Varma a second fifty in just his third T20I. However, in Kohli’s case, he was playing in a home World Cup, which does not come often.
Hence Kohli playing for milestones went well with his loyal fans. However, Gambhir feels Rohit Sharma’s approach is much more correct since the way the 50-over format is being played now has changed. England adopted an all-out approach since their 2015 World Cup exit, and Australia and South Africa followed suit.
In India’s case, the skipper Rohit has led from the front by scoring at a strike 110.9 in the powerplay. Before taking over captaincy reins from Kohli, Rohit sued to score at only 71 strike rate in the powerplay. But now, the India skipper is giving India blistering starts up front. In the ongoing WC, the 36-year-old has only century against Afghanistan. But in the remaining five innings, the skipper led from the front by providing solid starts upfront at a strike rate of over 100.
Rohit’s approch has a positive approch on team India. It has helped the middle and lower middle-order batters to pace their innings well. It has also allowed Kohli to plan the run chase well. While the India skipper has made peace with the new bold style of play, Kohli is happy to drop anchor and absorb pressure.
Both players are batting according to their style and helping India win six consecutively in the World Cup.
