With the World Cup 2023 set to begin on October 5, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir opened his views on batting stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the lead-up of the tournament
Gautam Gambhir century predictions of Babar and Rohit
With India winning its last World Cup under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, the selectors are looking on the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma who aims to imitate the former captain’s legacy in the stage of 2023. India hosted the tournament in 2011, where they beat Sri Lanka in the finals at Wankhede Stadium.
Rohit Sharma became captain for ODI format after India’s below-par in the T20 World Cup in 2021. Under his captaincy, India won its 8 title in the Asia Cup where they beat Sri Lanka in the finals of the event. With regaining his top form before the World Cup, the former player Gambhir believes that he can end India’s 12-year wait in the marquee tournament.
Ahead of the warm-up match against the Netherlands, Gambhir highlights the batting records of Rohit Sharma. He has scored 4,148 runs in 80 home ODIs with an average of 58.62.
“The kind of ability he has. India is playing the World Cup at home. We all know about Rohit Sharma’s record at home. He has three or four double hundreds. So I’m sure he will be really looking forward to and he will be eager to turn it around for India,” former India opener Gambhir said.
Gautam Gambhir was also impressed by the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam with his batting techniques.
“The kind of technique Babar Azam has, I think he will score three or four centuries for Pakistan in this World Cup,” Gambhir said.
Babar Azam was impressive in the warm-up games against New Zealand where he scored 80 runs on 84 deliveries. They will be facing Australia in their second and final Warmup game against Australia on October 3 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
“Babar Azam has every quality that he can set this World Cup on fire. I have seen very few players who have a lot of time to bat. I believe that there is Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, and David Warner but Babar Azam has a different level of quality,” concluded Gambhir.
Pakistan will be facing the Netherlands in their first match of the World Cup 2023 on October 6 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
