File photo of Indian cricket team fast bowler Mohammed Shami© AFP
Legendary Indian cricket team skipper Sunil Gavaskar named his two picks for Cricket World Cup 2023 Player of the Tournament and it did not include fast bowler Mohammed Shami. In an interaction with India Today, Gavaskar was all praise for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for their performances in the ongoing competition and ahead of the final against Australia, he picked the two Indian cricket team stars to emerge as the ‘Player Of The Competition’. The one major exclusion was pacer Mohammed Shami who has enjoyed a phenomenal run of form and is currently the highest wicket-taker in the competition.
“I’d like to pick two, and both are Indians. Kohli, only for the way he has batted right throughout the tournament, getting to a record of 50 centuries. Nobody has done that before. So that is absolutely fantastic to see. And his consistency, he’s got a half-century and more in every game,” Gavaskar said.
“Rohit Sharma, the way he’s paved the way for the batters coming down the order, batting so selflessly, getting to the 40s. Not looking to push the ball around and take the singles, but trying to get after the ball as quickly as possible, getting the Indian team off to an offline start, which puts the pressure back on the opposition bowlers. Even in the toughest of situations, he’s shown a calmness that has actually percolated to the rest of the team. He’s got this great ability to motivate his team. And there’s a calmness about the team; there’s a sense of oneness about the team, which is so nice to see,” he added.
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team will be looking to win their third ODI Cricket World Cup title when they take on Australia in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Topics mentioned in this article
