New Delhi, June 26
Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez showered praise on Team India's leadership in the T20 World Cup and said that the Men in Blue deserve to win the marquee event.
India are in good form in the T20 World Cup and have not lost a match. Rohit Sharma's side clinched a thumping 27-run win over Australia in their previous match.
India skipper played a 92-run knock in 41 balls at a strike rate of 224.39. He slammed 7 fours and 8 sixes during his time on the crease. The 37-year-old was unlucky to miss his century for just eight runs after he was dismissed by Mitchell Starc in the 12th over of the first inning.
In a video shared on his official X account, Hafeez hailed India skipper Rohit Sharma's knock against Australia.
"When you set big goals then your pedigree increases. If I talk about Rohit, India's leadership deserves to win the World Cup. The way he played unconditional cricket like a champion player. He didn't care if there was any seam or swing," Hafeez said.
"Special effort and you can't praise anyone enough when you weigh their performances with Rohit, others efforts would only look smaller. Rohit is the only person at the moment who deserves to win this World Cup for India," he added.
The former Pakistan cricketer said Rohit's knock was one of best innings from a captain.
"It was a Rohit show. We witnessed one of the best innings from a captain. If you speak about leading from the front, he changed just one thing, there was no doubt about his quality. One thing, he changed within himself was the selfless approach," he said.
https://x.com/MHafeez22/status/1805695609686413700
India will take on England in their semi-final match of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Thursday.
The last time India and England faced off in a Men's T20 World Cup semi-final was 19 months ago in Adelaide when a remarkable opening partnership between Jos Buttler and Alex Hales saw England cruise to 10 wicket win that forced a complete rethink in India's T20 strategy and move away from more established superstars to younger blood.
Meanwhile, India has not won the T20 World Cup 2024 since 2007, and is searching for its first World Cup win in any format since 2011's 50-over tournament. The Men in Blue's last ICC trophy was in 2013 when they captured the ICC Champions Trophy in England.