Gavaskar rates Rohit Sharma’s knock after India captain replicates MS Dhoni

Gavaskar praised Rohit’s record-breaking innings in the third T20I against Afghanistan.
Rohit Sharma struggled in the first two matches of his comeback series before Team India, led by Virat Kohli, staged a double Super Over thriller against Afghanistan on Wednesday. The seasoned opener was dismissed for 0 in the series opener in Mohali and had a golden duck in Indore. However, in the dead rubber in Bengaluru, Rohit made amends by playing a captain’s knock against a team who had emerged as giant-killers in the 2023 World Cup.

Captain Rohit, partnering with finisher Rinku Singh, saved India from a batting collapse before masterminding the hosts’ thrilling double Super Over victory. The India opener rediscovered form by slamming a record-breaking century in the third T20I at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, leading India to a thrilling victory and equal legendary cricketer MS Dhoni’s milestone of 41 wins as India’s captain.

Gavaskar reacts as Rohit equalizes Dhoni’s T20I record
With Rohit leading from the front and youngster Rinku delivering the goods, veteran Indian cricketer Rohan Gavaskar believes Rohit equaling Dhoni’s win record is a credit to his captaincy. “This is the format in which your captaincy abilities are truly tested. If he has a higher winning percentage than MS and Virat, it demonstrates how brilliant a captain he is. What I really loved about this innings was that, as you would expect in a T20I game, the blueprint is to go bang bang bang from the start. That is the template that has been set. But at 22-4, Rohit and Rinku utilized their cricketing brains to say no.

Rohit goes past Suryakumar and Maxwell.
Rohit became the most successful century maker in T20 Internationals, surpassing Glenn Maxwell and Suryakumar Yadav with his fifth century for India. Rohit scored 121 off just 69 balls against Afghanistan, while middle-order batsman Rinku contributed a critical 69 not out from 39 balls. The 36-year-old also had an undefeated 190-run partnership with Rinku as India rallied from 22/4 to reach a massive total of 212 in 20 overs.

“If we lose one or two wickets here, we will be 70 all out. We’re 90 percent out. So let’s allow ourselves some time; we can make up for it as the innings advances. And they accomplished it, scoring 100 in the final five overs. But this is a one-off. Normally, you want your teams to play in different patterns. But having the cricketing expertise and ability set to adapt, shift, and change your game to what needs to be done is important,” Gavaskar remarked.