[harry10]

Originally Posted by Aakash118

And I feel Rohit has this ability to be a cool minded skipper and certainly deserves at least one more chance. The only other players I see with a cool minded captaincy head are Ash (but is probably not suited for shorter formats) and Ruturaj (is probably still too new to be leading in a WC).

I am all for second chances. But, Captain has to lead from the front. First of all we need to see if a player is deserving of a spot in team on basis of his skill. As a batsman Rohit has been utter failure in T20 both international and ipl since long. He doesn't deserve to be in team as a player let alone be the Captain.

He was T20 world cup Captain in 2022. We didn't win the trophy.

He was ODI World cup captain in 2023. We didn't win the trophy.

How many more chances he should get even when his own performance is at bottom? Ideally, SKY who is no.1 batter in t20 or Bumrah who is the best bowler in the world should be the Captain. But, politics, PR and money rules.

Last night game who were the KKR bowlers.
Harshit rana
Vaibhav Arora
Narine
Chakravarty
Starc

Starc just bowled 1 over. Harshit and Vaibhav are uncapped upcoming youngsters. He couldn't even hit these guys. And to top it he looked absolutely clueless against Varun who isn't even selected in Indian team. How will Rohit do well against International bowlers when he can't even hit IPL bowlers comprising of domestic guys. I surely have no hope for him.

[Emvi]

Every true Indian cricket fan would want India to win global events, for that matter each and every match the team plays. I'm no different and so are most of us I assume. While I don't want to touch upon the topic of trolling, criticism is always good when it is constructive, logical and the parameters are consistent for each and every player.

People who watched / followed cricket in the 90s would easily relate to what I'm going to say next. Sachin Tendulkar in the peak of his prowess would score bucket load of runs everywhere, against the best of bowlers in all the formats India played back then. However, if you see the team results, India didn't win much. Why? Because, Sachin had little support from his teammates, the moment Sachin got out, the team would fold up in a jiffy on most occasions, particularly in overseas matches. And there were people questioning his match winning ability. A great player can win matches on his own on a given day, but it wouldn't be possible to do it always unless your teammates chip in with good performances. Sachin played under a lot of pressure for a large part of his career. It was only under Ganguly, youngsters started performing and the team was no longer solely dependent on the little master.

Brian Lara's story isn't too different either.

Talking of Virat's strike rate or performance in this IPL, it was clearly evident that he was feeling the heat with RCB losing matches one after another, even though he was scoring runs. The moment RCB got back to winning ways, courtesy combined team effort, Virat's game too has climbed a couple of notches higher, more than anything else.

[Aakash118]

You need to consider two things about Rohit and his IPL performances. First is that he is one of those players who have never taken IPL too seriously. Even at his prime, he has never had a 600 run season. Even Maxwell is one who hardly ever performs in IPL but always does in internationals. In the past, Yuvraj was one such player.
Secondly Rohit’s differences with MI management are not hidden from anyone. He is definitely not playing with a clear mind at the moment. He has already made it clear that these are his last days in MI camp. Ideally he should had skipped the season after all the saga in MI camp.
I’m quite sure that when he plays for India, he will be playing with a lot more motivation and energy.

[Aakash118]

Originally Posted by Emvi

Talking of Virat's strike rate or performance in this IPL, it was clearly evident that he was feeling the heat with RCB losing matches one after another, even though he was scoring runs. The moment RCB got backing to winning ways, courtesy combined team effort, Virat's game too has climbed a couple of notches higher, more than anything else.

Very well said. Most of the critics wanted VK to score a 40 ball hundered even if his team was at 50 for 4. For them a player should always be batting at 200 SR, no matter if the team is at 50 for 0 or 50 for 4.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by harry10

It's funny Kohli is always the punching bag of everyone including Sunny G but when it comes to Rohit Sharma there isn't a single word.

Originally Posted by antz.bin

I will criticize Kohli and KL not Hardik

The reason could be something else altogether, keyword search volume. This is crucial for any website looking to drive numbers for articles through clicks/eyeballs. I'll bet that any article with "Kohli" in it will drive clicks a lot more than anything with any other cricketer. I'm guessing "Kohli" and "Dhoni" will have better search volumes this IPL than "Rohit" or "Hardik". Which is why you will see more articles about Virat than anyone else. That balance might change during other events, like the World Cup. Sunny and the rest may even have given views about Rohit in the IPL, it's just that news websites may not have given those more headlines or articles.

Originally Posted by Emvi

I find ABD's comments on Pandya quite intriguing.

AbD too (or rather his PR team) (and he's one of my all-time favorite cricketers!) seems to have understood this jumped in on this trend, giving random, speculative soundbites on some pretty random topics these days. Never know what will get published, as long as something does on a regular basis. But I guess he needs to make a living and stay in the spotlight somehow.

Anyway, point I'm trying to make is there is always a media-induced angle to all of this, so conclusions from those are always a hit-or-miss thing.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

Coming to Rohit, regardless of what he is doing at the IPL (which I only follow scores of), he has shown that he has what it takes to bat selflessly to further the National team's cause at a World Cup not too long ago. What Rohit the batter did at the 50 overs World Cup above and beyond what was expected of him as an opening batting captain. The result is immaterial but his heart was in the right place all along, including the Final. I cannot criticize someone who is already going above and beyond for the country.

I completely disagree with you here. In a 50 over game, the top 3-4 once set have to aim for 100s ! Especially when you don't bat deep like India. This was further compounded once Hardik was ruled out & we had to play Shami which meant there was no batting depth. Yes, he gave the impetus to the team in the powerplay & those rollicking 40s are good to have in a T20 game. Rather than selfless, he probably should have been more selfish & aimed for 70-80+ score in every game! The team would have been happier if he had converted some of those 5 40s into a 100!

[ValarMorghulis]

If you look at T20 World Cup records for the past 2-3 editions, an impartial view can clearly tell you two things:
1. Rohit has been abysmal
2. Kohli has been the best performer for India.

Don't believe me, check the numbers and performances for yourself.

What is surprising is folks equating the two.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

If you look at T20 World Cup records for the past 2-3 editions, an impartial view can clearly tell you two things:
1. Rohit has been abysmal
2. Kohli has been the best performer for India.

Don't believe me, check the numbers and performances for yourself.

What is surprising is folks equating the two.

There is nothing surprising.
Two reasons -

1. Mumbai lobby always protecting Rohit and Criticizing Kohli.

2. Rohit's wife Ritika runs a PR agency along with her brother and it's an open secret how much work is done to keep Rohit's image positive.

Rohit wasn't even criticized when he made 28 balls 27 in T20 semi final and even when losing a home World cup final. If it was Kohli all media houses would have erupted.

[Gansan]

CSK fans are the most content lot this season. Win or lose doesn't matter. If Thala saunters in and hits a few sixes, it is enough!

[Shumi_21]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

What is surprising is folks equating the two.

We should thank the TOXIC fanbase of players for this one. When "X" player fails, his "fans" attack "Y" player's failures, triggering Y's fanbase who respond by claiming Y is a victim of unjust criticism and the vicious cycle goes on. Genuine criticism of the players always gets lost in the tu-tu-main-main. Not naming names here, because almost all "fanbases" use this tactic.

Originally Posted by harry10

There is nothing surprising.
Two reasons -

1. Mumbai lobby always protecting Rohit and Criticizing Kohli.

2. Rohit's wife Ritika runs a PR agency along with her brother and it's an open secret how much work is done to keep Rohit's image positive.

1. Mumbai lobby is a conspiracy theory that took root in the 70's & 80's when the Mumbai team was dominating the domestic scene and hence national selections. Today's closest equivalent is Sanju Samson's fanbase claiming "North Indian lobby" is behind his absence from the Indian team.

2. Rohit's wife does run his PR, but it's her cousin brother Bunty Sajdeh who runs the PR agency. And guess what, Virat Kohli was represented by Bunty from the beginning of his career until earlier this year, when Kohli cut off ties to form his own team. My point here is ALL players, even the IPL level guys have PR agencies (often from the same family) who work night and day to promote them.

Originally Posted by harry10

Rohit wasn't even criticized when he made 28 balls 27 in T20 semi final and even when losing a home World cup final. If it was Kohli all media houses would have erupted

Virat is too great a player to be dragged into a conversation criticising Rohit. We're actually deflecting the conversation away from Rohit's performance towards perceived injustice to Kohli. And I'm damn sure, Ritika with all her PR skills would love that, wouldn't she

P.S: Rohit was taken to the cleaners for the T20 world cup failure and rightly so. But it's a little harsh to criticize him for the ODI world cup final loss. We were just out thought and out played by the Aussies that day.


I'm deflecting too

[Emvi]

Right since this edition of IPL has commenced, this question has been lingering in my mind. Apologies if the topic has been previously discussed and I have missed it.

I see quite a few BCCI-contracted players appearing in TV commercials of my11circle fantasy game. However, Dream11 is Indian national team's sponsor. Also, they are the major sponsor of a couple of IPL teams, if I'm not wrong. How has BCCI taken care of conflict of interest factor? I'm curious to know.

[rx100]

Originally Posted by rx100

Interesting developments at MI. Everyone knew Hardik would assume the throne, but not expected this much early especially by replacing their most successful captain. Now it would be interesting to see how Bumrah and SKY’s approach given both had an eye on the captaincy.

And there you go, Mumbai finished at the bottom of the tables once again. With mega auctions scheduled next year, they need to rebuild a whole a new team including a new coach. Most probably they will retain Bumrah, SKY, Hardik and Coetzee and let go Rohit surely. Need to see will they buyback the likes of Tilak, Ishan etc..

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by rx100

And there you go, Mumbai finished at the bottom of the tables once again. With mega auctions scheduled next year, they need to rebuild a whole a new team including a new coach. Most probably they will retain Bumrah, SKY, Hardik and Coetzee and let go Rohit surely. Need to see will they buyback the likes of Tilak, Ishan etc..

They should only retain Bhumrah, SKY and Tilak Verma. Get a new coach, captain and build a horses for courses team. Since the start I have never liked the team combination and order of Mumbai Indians. They wasted Pollard by making him bat low down the order. And repeating the same with Tim David. Insisting on underperformers like HP & IK too have costed them big time. Less said about the transfer of Captaincy, the better.

[rx100]

What an anti climax! After all the high scoring matches and high run chases, final turns out to be a low scoring affair and a one sided match.

[deathwalkr]

What a damp squib of a final it turned out to be :( Not a fan of either teams so didn't really care. But felt for the huge crowd that turned out to watch the match live.