‘He panics a bit under pressure’ - Shoaib Akhtar gives his take on Rohit Sharma as Team India's skipper

Team India has been in quite a conundrum regarding the captaincy. Over the past few years, the side has experimented with various skippers. Ace batter Virat Kohli led the side for a few years before Rohit Sharma took over. Furthermore, all-rounder Hardik Pandya has led team India in white ball cricket as well. 

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has been a huge fan of Rohit Sharma. The legendary pacer has always heaped massive praises on the veteran Indian batter. However, Akhtar recently came forward to scrutinize Rohit Sharma’s captaincy.

Akhtar opined that Rohit has a tendency to panic under pressure. He stated that Rohit is more talented than even Virat Kohli, but the leadership role in the Indian team has not suited him.

"Rohit is a great guy. But I don't think he should have taken the captaincy. He panics a bit under pressure. He is perhaps more talented than even Virat Kohli and has all the shots. But does captaincy suit him? I question myself most of the time. But he will have the home crowd behind him and has the ability to win the World Cup," Shoaib Akhtar told RevSportz.

The media puts too much pressure on the players: Akhtar

Furthermore, Shoaib Akhtar stated that team India’s failure to win an ICC title ever since their 2013 Champions Trophy triumph has been due to the media's relentless pressure on them. It has been a trend that India has been put under major pressure ahead of big matches in marquee tournaments.

"I feel after 2013, captaincy has become a bit crippled. Virat sometimes used to be over-aggressive. Rohit used to panic a bit too much. The media puts too much pressure on the players. They show as if India just cannot lose the match. Why can't they? They also slam them when they lose. Don't do this," Akhtar said.

With the World Cup 2023 rapidly approaching, India will go into the tournament with Rohit Sharma as the skipper. Boasting a plethora of talented players, it could be interesting to see whether the side is able to break its dreaded ICC jinx.