Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly felt current captain Rohit Sharma would feel distraught if Team India lost another World Cup final in seven months under him ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup final as well. However, Team India will play against South Africa in the title clash in Barbados on June 29.
Speaking to reporters, Sourav Ganguly said as quoted by NDTV: “I don’t think he can lose two World Cup finals in seven (six) months. He will probably jump into the Barbados ocean if he loses two finals under his captaincy in seven months. He has led from the front, batted brilliantly, and I hope it continues tomorrow. Rohit has the record of winning five IPL titles, which is a huge achievement. Winning an IPL sometimes is more difficult. Don’t misquote me, I’m not saying IPL is better than international cricket. But you have to win 16-17 (12-13) matches to win an IPL; here you need to win 8-9 matches to win a World Cup. The honor is more in winning the World Cup, and I hope Rohit does it tomorrow.”
However, Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013 and led the franchise to five titles before being replaced by Hardik Pandya at the helm for the this season as well. As the Indian captain, he led the side to the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, followed by the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup final last year as well. Sourav Ganguly praised India as the best side of the 2024 T20 World Cup and he hoped they would finish on the right side of the final against South Africa.
“They have been the best side of the competition. I wish them luck, I wish they win. Hope they have a little bit of luck tomorrow because that is required to win big tournaments. Hope India finishes on the right side, and they should play with freedom. I look at it differently. At least we are getting to the finals, we can only win once we get to the final. The positive thing is India is not getting eliminated. Secondly, they are dominating. You saw the World Cup in India seven months ago; they were the best side in the competition, although they lost to Australia in the final. They were a better side than Australia right through the tournament; they just had one bad day,” concluded Sourav Ganguly.
