Gautam Gambhir credit MS Dhoni for Rohit Sharma's successful cricket career

After he established himself as one of the finest in white-ball cricket, Rohit Sharma also proved his his mettle in Test cricket after being upgraded as an opener. Former Indian cricketer turned politician Gautam Gambhir is of the opinion that Rohit is one of the greatest in greatest in limited overs in the present time and believes MS Dhoni is the one who should be accredited for 33-year-old’s career.

The 33-year-old opener made his debut for the national side in 2007, but it was only after Dhoni promoted him as an opener that his career took a huge turn. Today Rohit Sharma is the only cricketer to have knocked 3 ODI double centuries and 5 World Cup hundreds and that is all because he had strong support from Dhoni, Gambhir feels.

"Where Rohit Sharma is today, it is because of MS Dhoni," Gambhir told Sports Tak.

"You can talk about the selection committee and team management, but if you do not have the backing from your captain than it is all useless. Everything is in the hands of the captain. How MS Dhoni had backed Rohit Sharma over a period of time, I do not think any player has been given such support."

Gambhir further stated that Rohit Sharma is the prime example of how a player’s fortunes can change if he is nurtured by the seniors.

"I hope the young cricketers in the current generation today, be it Shubman Gillm Sanju Samson, they also get similar kind of support. And now when Rohit is a senior, I expect him to give backing to youngsters. Rohit is a prime example of how a player can become a phenomenal cricketer, if he has good backing. One good thing about MS was that he always kept Rohit in the talks, even if was not part of the team, he was always part of the group. He never let him get sidelined."

"I expect Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to groom the youngsters in the same way in which MS Dhoni groomed them."

When Rohit celebrated his 33rd birthday a few days ago, Gambhir had wished him, calling him the greatest white ball cricketer in the world.

Gambhir once again reiterated what he thinks and stated that no one has the same impact as Rohit Sharma and thus there is no player like him in the current generation.

"I think he is the best white-ball cricketer in the world right now. He is not the greatest overall but at the moment he is the best. He is the only player to have hit 3 ODI double hundreds, 5 World Cup hundreds and he is also the only player, who once gets past 100-run mark, people say that he missed a double century."

"He had hit 5 World Cup hundred in England. People cannot do that in their entire careers. 3 ODI double hundreds, players do not have 3 double hundreds in Tests. There are many who could score runs, but for me white-ball cricket is all about impact. Virat Kohli will end up getting many more runs than Rohit Sharma, and Kohli is among the greatest right now, but Rohit has an edge over Kohli because of the impact he has."

"It is very difficult to compare both of them. Virat Kohli is unbelievable. His stats prove that. But when your reputation is such that when you get out after a hundred, people say he has missed out on double hundred, that speaks volumes about you."

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