IND vs NZ | Rohit Sharma played with a lot of freedom despite being announced as full-time captain, reckons Gautam Gambhir

India recently won a three match T20I series against New Zealand at home with a clean sweep. The Men in Blue completed the whitewash by beating Blackcaps with 73 runs in the final T20I in Kolkata. Also, India became the first team to beat New Zealand with a clean sweep in a T20I series both home and away. 

This was the first series for Rohit Sharma as the full time T20 captain for India and he was impressive with the bat. He was the highest run-scorer in the series with 159 runs in three matches at a strike rate of over 150. In the third T20I, he played an important knock of 31-ball 56. Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir said that the way Rohit batted with a lot of freedom despite being announced as full-time captain was impressive.

"He has done it (scoring big) year after year. It's good that it's coming while he is the full-time captain. Performing the way he did is a huge positive. Because sometimes captaincy can take the freedom out of your game but it didn't happen with Rohit," Gambhir said on Star Sports.

"Yes, he has captained previously as well but wasn't the full-time captain. This series showed his maturity and what he has done in this series is no surprise. But what was impressive is the way he played with a lot of freedom despite being announced as full-time captain.”

India batted first in the third T20I of the series going against the trend of winning the toss and bowling first. India managed a total of 184/7. Defending the target, Rohit brought in spinners early giving Axar Patel the 3rd over and Yuzvendra Chahal the 4th over. Axar bowled a game changing spell and picked three wickets in the match. 

Gambhir also praised the captaincy of Rohit saying that he stayed ahead of the game against New Zealand as a captain.

"Very, very good captaincy from Rohit Sharma. Bringing on Axar Patel in the 3rd over and getting Yuzvendra Chahal in the 4th over. These are small, small things, sometimes, you might just miss. But this is what captaincy is all about, always staying ahead of the game and he got the results,” he opined. 

"He is someone who won 5 titles in the IPL and now he has started off this series with a clean sweep. So this is what captaincy does in T20I cricket.”