Former South African batter Jonty Rhodes has urged Shubman Gill to take help from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of the ODI World Cup 2027. Rhodes said there is nothing wrong if Gill turns for opinions from the two veteran batters and make the most of their experience.
However, the former Proteas batter said Gill has to make the final call after seeking advice from the duo, and that’s the tricky part. Both Rohit and Virat have put their weight behind Gill since the latter has been given the ODI captaincy and the youngster has been able to hit the ground running.
Rhodes said on JioStar, “The key with being a leader is understanding that you’ve got these senior players around you, and it’s not a negative mark on your captaincy if you ask around for help, or for opinions and ideas.
“Obviously, as the leader and the captain, you have to make the final choice. That’s often the hardest thing about captaining so many experienced players, they all give you great options, but you now have to make the call. So, having the likes of Rohit and Virat in your setup, and Shubman has been pretty consistent in his energy levels, the way that he conducts himself as a captain, and prior to that, as a player, it’s all very consistent.
“As long as he’s not trying to be anybody else, which is impossible, because when you’re under pressure, you always revert back to who you really are. He’s gotten to that stride very quickly,” Rhodes added.
Rhodes, who was known for his acrobatic fielding, said the teams will need to adapt to the South African conditions as soon as possible for the ODI showpiece.
“It’s interesting because what is impacted in the field is often the altitude. If you play at the coast, it’s different to playing in Johannesburg or Pretoria, where altitude affects it. Similar to what we’re trying to do with the ETPL, bringing cricket into Europe, we’ve also got Namibia and Zimbabwe, who are co-hosting the Cricket World Cup.
“The wickets in South Africa are pretty good, so there is not going to be much contest between bat and ball. There is good carry. I think from a point of view where you can hit down the line or through the line of the ball, as opposed to using the pace to run the ball down, the Indian players ramp the ball so well. They get inside and scoop the ball so well, so they’ve adapted really quickly to the modern world of cricket,” he added.
ODI World Cup 2027 will run from October 4 to November 21.
