‘Of course, he is underrated’- Sunil Gavaskar draws comparisons between Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni

Former Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar feels Rohit Sharma is very underrated as the skipper in the Indian Premier League despite winning five trophies for Mumbai Indians as the captain. Gavaskar said that Rohit doesn’t get as much credit as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni.

Both Dhoni and Rohit are the most successful skippers in the history of IPL. Rohit led MI to the title five times in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. Meanwhile, CSK is the most consistent team in the tournament throughout the years, having won the title four times in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021 and qualifying 10 times into the finals.

‘If that had been CSK and Dhoni was the captain, everybody would have said…’ – Gavaskar

CSK made it into their 10th IPL final after a 15-run victory over the defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday in Chennai. While MI thrashed Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 81 runs in the Eliminator in Wednesday to confirm their fixture with GT in Qualifier 2 on Friday.

Ahead of GT vs MI clash, Gavaskar praised Rohit’s captaincy against LSG and also referred to how he combined with Akash Madhwal to plot the dismissals of Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran off consecutive deliveries and said Dhoni would have got more appreciation if he was in Rohit’s place.

“Of course, he is underrated. The man has won 5 titles for Mumbai Indians. Let me give you an example. Madhwal got Ayush Badoni, bowling over the wicket. He then went round the wicket to the left-hander Nicholas Pooran. Not a lot of bowlers necessarily do that because if they get their rhythm going bowling over the wicket, they will stick to over the wicket even it’s a left-hander, trying to leave the left-hander. But he went around the wicket and produced an absolute gem of a delivery and got the man out,” Gavaskar told India Today.

“If that had been CSK and Dhoni was the captain, everybody would have said, Dhoni plotted Nicholas Pooran’s dismissal. This is what happens to a great extent. There is also a little bit of hype, things sometimes work out,” he further added.