Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma (PTI Photo)
NEW DELHI: Former Team India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh backed Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma's leadership skills, despite recent setbacks.
Yuvraj expressed his support on Thursday for Rohit's captaincy, emphasising the need to evaluate his overall performance rather than focusing solely on recent series losses.
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The left-handed batter highlighted Rohit's achievements, including leading India to victories in the
T20 World Cup
and guiding Mumbai Indians to five
IPL titles
.
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"Gautam Gambhir needs to be given more time as he has just come into the system. Rohit won us the T20 World Cup and he was the captain when India reached the World Cup (ODI) final. Mumbai Indians won 5 IPLs under Rohit's captaincy. He stepped down in the last Test (of BGT) to give someone else the chance, how many captains have done that in the past? I look at what he has done in the last 3-5 years, one tournament can't decide. For me, the series defeat at home was more disappointing as India losing 3-0 against New Zealand was tougher," Yuvraj told reporters during an event.
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Rohit Sharma's captaincy tenure has been a mix of notable successes and disappointing lows. Under his leadership, India experienced a 10-match winning streak during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, culminating in a final loss to Australia.
However, the team also secured an ICC T20 World Cup title in 2024 and reached the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023, where they were defeated by Australia.
Since the second half of 2024, Sharma has faced challenges both as a batter and captain. In the 2024/25 Test season, he scored only 164 runs in eight matches and 15 innings, with an average of 10.93 and a highest score of 52.
During the recently concluded
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
, he managed just 31 runs in three Tests, with a best score of 10. His form struggles led him to opt out of the final Test in Sydney.
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In the 2024 calendar year, Sharma lost six Tests, including four at home, resulting in a decline in his Test record as captain.
He has won 12 Tests and lost nine, with three ending in a draw.
Despite the recent setbacks, Yuvraj Singh believes Sharma's overall contributions and leadership qualities should be considered, rather than judging him solely on a few tournaments or series.
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