'Rohit Sharma panics. He's more talented than Virat Kohli but...': Akhtar's harsh captaincy verdict ahead of World Cup

The time between 2007 and 2013 was probably India's golden period in terms of ICC trophy hauls. In a space of seven years, India picked up three different trophies before incurring a period of drought between 2014 till date. As India gear up for yet another shot at ending their long-standing wait of 10 years for a another ICC trophy, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar made a critical assessment of the two periods, claiming that the presence of a calm and composed MS Dhoni made the difference for India as opposed to a "panicky" Rohit Sharma and "over-aggressive" Virat Kohli.

In an interview on Backstage With Boria, Akhtar explained that lack of composure among India captains, like Dhoni had, has led to the Men in Blue failing to lift another ICC trophy in the last 10 years. He further added that while incumbent skipper Rohit is a great player, he becomes anxious under pressure and hence should never have become the leader of the side.

“There was once a guy who would take the entire team’s pressure upon himself – that was Dhoni,” Akhtar said. “Only a captain can shield the entire team behind him. Rohit is a great guy, but he cripples during captaincy, he panics. These might be harsh words, but I don’t think he should have taken up the captaincy.”

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The Pakistan legend admitted that while Rohit is a batter batsman than Kohli, he has his doubts over his abilities to take decisions at critical points in the match and feels that the 36-year-old should be self-critical of his captaincy as well.

“Even Virat Kohli isn’t as talented as him,” Akhtar continued. “The timing he has and the shots he can play…he is a classical batter – but was he made for captaincy? I question myself most of the time. Does he react well in most of critical situations? I question myself. He should also be questioning it”.

Shoaib Akhtar backs Rohit Sharma to prove him wrong

Under Kohli's captaincy, India made the semis in 2019 ODI World Cup, incurred a humiliating group-stage exit in 2021 T20 World Cup and lost in the final of 2017 Champions Trophy against Pakistan. Rohit took over the reigns in across formats in early 2022 and has since registered a winning percentage of 74.07 in ODIs, with 20 victories in 27 matches. However, the run did included a semi-final exit in 2022 World T20.

Despite the criticism, Akhtar backed Rohit to prove him wrong in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home, which could be his final white-ball captaincy assignment.

“No doubt he [Rohit] has the ability to win this World Cup,” the 48-year-old said, “because he has the home crowd behind him, he has the team and his talent behind him. Prove me wrong, prove everybody wrong – I am sure he has the ability to do that. But, I feel since 2013, India’s captaincy has crippled [under pressure], even under Kohli. Kohli used to get over-aggressive, Rohit panics”.