Senior opener Rohit Sharma, who was picked as Virat Kohli's successor to lead India across formats, yet again failed to win an ICC final. Team India's most recent failure came in the summit clash of World Test Championship (WTC 2023) Final, where they lost to Australia by 209 runs at The Oval -- their fourth defeat in an ICC final and second loss in a row in a WTC Final. While the entire cricket fraternity is busy dropping bombshells on the Indian team for their lackluster outings, Sourav Ganguly defended Rohit Sharma with a bizarre remark, comparing World Cup win with Indian Premier League (IPL).
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Rohit had replaced Virat Kohli as India captain when Ganguly was the BCCI President. In a recent interview, Ganguly had explained that Rohit was named as Kohli's successor because he was the 'next best option' available. Though Rohit Sharma's stint as India captain, so far, has been pretty ordinary, but the senior opener led Mumbai Indians (MI) to five IPL titles -- one of the major reasons why Ganguly and others were confident that India would gain similar success having Rohit as captain.
In an exclusive interview with India Today, Ganguly said that winning the IPL is more difficult that winning a World Cup.
“I have full faith on Rohit. He and MS Dhoni have won 5 IPL titles. Winning the IPL isn’t easy because it’s a tough tournament. Winning the IPL is more difficult than winning a World Cup as there are 14 matches after which you take part in the playoffs. In the World Cup, it takes only 4-5 matches for a place in the semis. In the IPL, it takes 17 matches for you to become champions,” he said.
Unhappy netizens, who were in no mood to spare the former BCCI President, came up with some hilarious memes, targeting Ganguly for his bizarre remark.
Ganguly still believes that Rohit Sharma is the best man to end India's ICC trophy drought.
"The selectors needed a captain after Virat left and Rohit was the best that time. He had won 5 IPL trophies and done well at the international level as well; he won the Asia Cup. He was the best option. India also played in the final of the Test championship, although we lost.
"Even two years ago, we lost the WTC final. We reached the semis of the T20 World Cup. So, the selectors picked that person who was the best for the job," Ganguly said.