MI vs KKR | Rohit Sharma only player for whom I had to make plans; he gave us nightmares, says Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir has revealed that Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was the only batsman he had to plan against, during his stint as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain. The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Rohit has the ability of attack and dominate irrespective of the conditions.
Rohit Sharma on Thursday became only the first player in the IPL history to score 1,000 runs against a single opposition. The swashbuckling right-hand batsman, who had 982 runs against the Eoin Morgan-led team ahead of the match, achieved the milestone by hitting a boundary off spinner Varun Chakravarthy. The 34-year-old hit 30-ball 33 which included four exquisite boundaries.
Prasing the Nagpur-born, Gambhir went on to add that he did not plan anything against Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers or Chris Gayle but his preparations before facing Rohit Sharma were different.
"He has gotten heaps of runs against KKR. I have made it very clear as well that in my seven years of captaincy, I never planned against anyone whether it was Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers. All I had to plan in those seven years was against Rohit Sharma," said Gambhir on Star Sports.
Gambhir, who is part of the commentary team for the IPL this year, led KKR to two titles in his seven years as captain of the team. The 39-year-old said that Rohit is a player who can play well against any kind of bowling, regardless of the conditions.
"I knew that he plays spin very well, he plays fast bowling really well and he can attack and dominate whenever he wants irrespective of what the conditions are. He has given us a lot of nightmares," he said about Rohit, who has won five IPL title for Mumbai Indians.
Rohit is the third highest run scorer of all time in the IPL with 5513 runs which includes 40 half centuries and one century. He is also the third highest run scorer in T20 Internationals, scoring 2864 runs with 22 half centuries and a record four centuries.