ICC World Cup Final 2023: Rohit Sharma Vs Pat Cummins captaincy, Who Is Better Leader Of The Two?

Add as a preferred source on Google

ICC World Cup Final 2023 ended on a sour note for India with Australia beating the hosts by six wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Captaincy decisions played a key role right from the toss as Pat Cummins and Rohit Sharma were locked in a leadership duel.

Rohit Sharma's captaincy has been exemplary throughout the ICC World Cup 2023 as India reached the final on a 10-match winning run. Pat Cummins showed he is able to bring results in the ODIs too as he inspired his team to an eight-match winning run and subsequently the record sixth title after losing the first two games.

ICC World Cup 2023 started with a morale-sapping loss to India and was followed by another heavy defeat to South Africa. However, Australia were a much better side in their last two games, defeating both South Africa and India to lift the trophy.

In the final, Pat Cummins had no doubts in his mind when he opted to bat first after winning the toss. He made it clear that he took the call because he expects dew to make batting easy while bowling first will give them the advantage of exploiting the slow and patch surface.

Everything went the way the captain predicted as Australians looked on a mission with bowlers coming out with plans for every Indian batter while the likes of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli struggled against the short ball. Pat Cummins set the tone for the final as well by picking the wicket of Kohli and bowling 30 dot balls in his spell.

Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, had a bad day as a leader. Despite losing the toss, Rohit said he would have batted first if won the toss, which means the fate of the batting performance was sealed.

Also, later while defending, Rohit Sharma opted to start with Mohammed Shami from one end with Jasprit Bumrah instead of his trusted formula of Siraj and Shami. Further trouble came in as the captain was forced to introduce his spinner early with dew setting in.

This delayed introduction of Mohammed Siraj to the bowling attack as late as the 16th over, rendered the seam bowler ineffective as the pacer is known for being more effective with the ball. Dinesh Karthik further reckoned in the commentary box that Shami is much more effective as the first change while he was trying too much with the new ball and wasn't as effective as he has been in the ICC World Cup 2023.

Interestingly, this is the second time this year that Rohit Sharma lost as a captain to Pat Cummins as his counterpart in an ICC final as the two teams earlier played the ICC Test Championship Final. Rohit Sharma's decision to bowl first drew flak in the game too as India were all out for 234 on the final day while chasing 444.