Rohit Sharma or Jasprit Bumrah? Sunil Gavaskar picks India's standout WC performer: 'Deserving of highest praise'

Joining MS Dhoni in the exclusive list of Indian captains, Rohit Sharma finally emulated the legendary skipper by masterminding India's World Cup title triumph on Saturday. A Virat Kohli masterclass followed by Jasprit Bumrah's death-over heroics sealed a thrilling seven-run win for India over South Africa in the final at the Kensington Oval. With Team India enjoying a euphoric homecoming in Mumbai, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar picked the standout performer of the Men In Blue at the grandest stage.

While run-machine Kohli saved his best for the last, pace ace Bumrah complemented superstar Hardik Pandya in the death overs to set up India's win. Bidding farewell to the shortest format, Kohli was named the Player of the Match for his scintillating knock of 76 against South Africa. Speedster Bumrah was adjudged the Player of the Tournament as the India star became the first premier pacer to take home the prestigious honour.

ALSO READ: Virat Kohli's 'shoutout' to Jasprit Bumrah for 'bringing India back' in WC final: 'We felt, is it going to slip away?'

Rohit vs Bumrah: Gavaskar picks India's standout performer

Though Hardik, Bumrah and Kohli headlined India's win, former skipper Gavaskar opined that it was captain Rohit, who was running the ‘main show’ for the Asian giants in the T20 World Cup. Nicknamed the Hitman, Rohit exacted India's revenge over Australia in the rematch of the 2023 World Cup final. The 37-year-old also played a match-winning knock against England to help Indai punch its World Cup final tickets in the penultimate conest of the ICC event.

'Rohit's captaincy is something that…'

“There were several. If you have a look at what this team did, they were champions in every different field. So while there was ‘Player of the Tournament’. Jasprit Bumrah, who absolutely totally deserved to be the 'Player of the Tournament', the main man running the show was Rohit Sharma. So Rohit's captaincy is something that has to be admired because never once during tense situations did his body language go down," Gavaskar told India Today.

Did you know?

At the age of 37, Rohit is the second-oldest captain to win an ICC tournament final. He is only behind Pakistan's Imran Khan, who lifted the 1992 World Cup trophy at 39. Rohit also enhanced his T20 final record to 8-0 by securing India's second T20 World Cup crown. Only Dhoni (9) has won more T20 finals than Rohit. The outgoing India skipper has 49 wins to his names - the most by any skipper in men's T20Is. Only Rohit has won the T20 World Cup as a player and captain.

'The way he handled the situation…'

"Yes, we have all got used to some of his grimaces and stuff like that, but that's okay...The way he handled the situation when it was not looking good for India, that is deserving of the highest praise. That is why his captaincy was the standout Indian performance of the tournament for me," Gavaskar added.