On Rohit Sharma’s chances at the 2027 World Cup, the South African legend’s “mental strength” is great

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Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes believes that having someone with Rohit Sharma’s vast experience in the Indian team will be an invaluable asset for the two-time champions as they go further in their plans to prepare for the 2027 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup. A veteran right-hander, Rohit scored 11,895 runs in 288 ODIs, including hitting 34 centuries and 62 fifties. He was the leading run-scorer in the 2019 ODI World Cup and led India to a runner-up finish in the 2023 edition on home soil.

“You have to remember that having World Cup experience is another factor that we don’t take into account. We look at the talent of the players, the ability they have and their performance.

“Maybe they were hit hard and had a good season. But when it comes to moments of pressure, the World Cup is very high pressure. Players can take care of themselves physically, but mental strength is something we don’t often take into account when it comes to selection.

“But as someone who has played in four Cricket World Cups without going beyond the semi-finals, I know how stressful it can get. So having someone like Rohit Sharma in your team is a big advantage in the World Cup,” Rhodes told JioStar.

Rhodes, who is currently co-owner of the Rotterdam Dockers in the European T20 Premier League (ETPL), also lauded the ferocious competitive leadership of top veteran Virat Kohli and compared his intensity to the ruthless mentality of dominant Australian teams of the past.

Just like Rohit, Kohli has been the backbone of the Indian batting order in the 50-over format and has amassed 14,941 runs in 314 matches, including hitting 54 hundreds and 79 half-centuries.

“We’ve watched Australia win a lot of World Cups and we’ve seen their aggression and almost their expectation to win. And I think that’s what Virat was about. He had this absolute hunger to win matches for his team.

“When you are a captain and captain of a team, and you can always be the best chaser in the world, it shows how determined you are to be the guy who takes the team to the line. When he chases scores for a long period of time, he was the ultimate scorer of the game for India,” he said.

“From that perspective, he feeds off that aggression. He doesn’t mind when he bats. A lot of players don’t want to lose their concentration. If he’s batting, he’ll also get stuck. So he’s definitely someone who loves the competition and loves to fight. He has a huge drive to win matches for India, and whether he captains or not, he’ll still have that drive. He just wants India to win,” Rhodes added.

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