Dubai, Oct 17: Australian legend Ricky Ponting believes a“laid-back” Rohit Sharma is the ideal captain to lead India to their third ODI World Cup title, the second on home soil after the 2011 triumph.
With three convincing wins under their belt, India have made a perfect start to their World Cup campaign.India defeated Australia by six wickets in their tournament opener, before registering emphatic eight and seven-wicket wins over Afghanistan and Pakistan to sit on top of the points table.“He’s very laid back, Rohit. Very laid back with everything he does. You can even see that by the way that he plays. He’s a pretty laconic sort of batsman as well, and that’s the way he is both on and off the field,” Ponting told the ICC on Tuesday.
Rohit took the captaincy reins from Virat Kohli in both the white-ball formats in December 2021.And Ponting believes Rohit’s character fits perfectly for the India job, 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, someone with his personality would probably find it a bit harder,” Ponting said.
“But I think Rohit will be fine with it. He’s a terrific bloke and has been a great player for a long time,” he added. (PTI)