Hyderabad: Rohit Sharma has turned out to be a threat for the opposition bowlers, former India cricketer Surendra Nayak has said, sharing his views on India's campaign in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023.
Rohit has turned out to be a consistent performer with the willow, however, when it comes to World Cups he has been just brilliant. The Indian skipper has accumulated 398 runs from six innings with an average of 66.33 including a ton. He has given the team brilliant starts with his elegant strokeplay. Sharing his views on Rohit's scintillating form, Nayak showered heaps of praises on him.
"Rohit Sharma is a divine gift for the Indian cricket team. He has multiple world records to his name and the batter is also versatile with the ability to play in an attacking manner whenever needed and can also switch his game and play with patience. Virat Kohli is also contributing with vital knocks and that has boosted India's chances to lift the trophy," Nayak told ETV Bharat.
India have been the only unbeaten side in the tournament so far winning all of their six games while defending champions England who were considered firm favourites for the title before the start of the tournament have been disappointing. Nayak opined that the failure to adapt to Indian conditions and the lack of mindset to play out all the 50 overs have affected England's performance.
"While India have been in red hot form, England have disappointed coming into the competition. Their batters failed to adapt to the Indian conditions and lacked the mindset to play full 50 overs. The performance of the English team was quite unexpected. I think they also crumbled under the pressure of a big tournament like the World Cup," he added.
Nayak further praised the infrastructure in Indian cricket with a remark that high-quality facilities and top-notch coaches have played a part in India producing talented cricketers from the domestic circuit.
"With India having a vast talent pool, no player can afford to dish out a poor performance as there are players who are ready to take his place in the lineup. Every state association has a good amount of money and so they spend it on having high-quality facilities and elite coaches to develop the sport in the country," he asserted.
Afghanistan and the Netherlands have turned out to be surprise packages in the ongoing World Cup toppling big teams like England and South Africa respectively. Sharing his views on the development, Nayak stated that it is a positive development for world cricket.
"In this edition, Afghanistan and the Netherlands have displayed an impressive performance in the tournament beating big teams. Afghanistan are in India for almost half of the year as they practice in Dehradun, Lucknow, and Delhi. Players from the Netherlands participate in the tournaments played in other countries and so that comes in handy for them," he concluded.
