Sunil Gavaskar hails Rohit Sharma’s leadership in the IPL final

The Indian Team might have departed for England to defend their Champions Trophy title in England but the IPL is still very fresh in people’s memory. Mumbai Indians won their third title in a very closely contested final against Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday as they won the game by just 1 run in Hyderabad.

Mumbai Indians played outstanding cricket during the course of the tournament. They topped the league stages and lost just 4 games out of 14 in the league stages. A stutter in the first Qualifier, where they lost to the eventual finalists RPS, did not put Mumbai on the back foot as they went about their business very professionally and reached the finals by defeating KKR in the 2nd Qualifier.

When a team plays so well during a 45-day competition, the leadership has to be acknowledged of the winning side. Rohit Sharma was outstanding in Mumbai’s winning campaign and inflicted self-belief in a star-studded side. Despite putting just 129 runs on the board, Rohit marshalled his troops brilliantly by ringing in the right changes and stationing the right men at the right positions. Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar was full of praise for Rohit’s fine leadership in the night of the final. Gavaskar underlined that Rohit’s fielding positions were immaculate during RPS’s chase of 130.

“Look at the last over. He (Rohit) had only one fielder at deep cover because he knew that Steve Smith with his back and across movement and the propensity to flick the ball to the leg-side, he had four fielders outside and just that one fielder. Just actually tells you how much preparation had gone into Mumbai Indians strategy.”

About retention policy in IPL 2018

When asked about the retention policy, Gavaskar said “I believe all IPL teams should be given a chance to retain at least 5-6 players next year”

Mumbai have won three titles under Rohit which shows the ability of the talented batsman as a leader of the group. His leadership has also got the best out of him as a batsman as the 30-year old has matured a lot since been asked to lead the side.

Talks of him being appointed the vice-captain to Kohli for the imminent Champions Trophy are doing the round which is only fair as he could be the right man to lead India as and when Kohli is unavailable. A stint at the top level at some point will further boost Rohit the player.