Why no one deserves this World Cup more than Rohit Sharma

How many hundreds did Rohit Sharma miss in this ICC World Cup 2023 At least five if not more But how many hearts did he win with his new found noholds barred attacking approach May be a billion With a perfect balance between head and heart Rohit has taken India into the ICC World Cup 2023 tournament finalThe highrisk approach has cost him personal milestones but having put team above self the HitMan didnt deviate from his gameplan as he is on a mission to complete what he termed at the start as unfinished businessHe will be 36 years and 203 days old on November 19 a day which would possibly be his last dance and effectively a last chance to win the coveted 50 over World Cup titleThe next 50over World Cup is too far away and someone that oozes practicality from literally every bone of his body it would be a long shot to think that at 40 he would be game to play 100over per day matches in 2027Hence November 19 2023 could be the Red Letter Day in 16 and half years of Rohits chequered career punctuated with lot of ups and downsIn the next two months I want to create a lot of memories with this team Rohit had told PTI just before the Asia CupAnd boy did he make some fabulous memories in last six weeks giving India its own customized version of La Decima 10 in Spanish and Italian in this years global cricket meetNasser Hussain pointed out during his chat in Sky Sports what the Indian skipper had told Dinesh Karthik after the last World T20 semifinal thrashing at the hands of eventual champions EnglandWe need to change our approach Rohit had told Karthik who was part of that squadA change of approach is always a result of change of mindset and when the captain walks the talk it becomes very easy for others to followWhen Rohit first became a fulltime skipper in one of his earlier press meets he had said a very pertinent thingI wont tell anyone to do anything that I myself wont do Rohit has said back thenAlso ReadA date with destiny at WankhedeBut Rohit has always been like that his childhood coach Dinesh Lad saidI remember an incident from his U19 days It wasnt from a game We were all standing somewhere and there was this gleaming Mercedes parked on the other side of the road Rohit looked at it for some time and said Yeh main ek din kharidoonga I will buy this car one dayI had to retort I said Rohit kya paagal ho gaya hain tu Abhi kuch khela hi naahi hain tune Are you mad Rohit You havent played anything yetLittle did he realise that this was not an average 17yearold And in less than three years he had a luxury car in his garage after the T20 World Cup triumph Lad himself admits that he never realized that there was this bullish but quiet self confidence in his wardHe has always been selfless even when he would captain his school team What you are seeing today isnt something that happened overnight Forgetting about own milestones and playing the role for his team has been his forte Lad saidLad said that after the initial high of 2007 T20 World Cup and the yearend CB Series in Australia Rohit faced a lull between 2009 and 2011 with the lowest point being missing out on a World Cup selectionI remember him telling me Sir you wont have any complaints that I dont work hard I will devote a lot of time on my game he promised And you can say he has kept his promise the proud coach saidThose who come up through the ranks facing a lot of hardships know a lot about adjustments and the Indian skipper is one such characterI am a disciple of late Ramakant Achrekar He was my guru and he wouldnt even take a penny if the student wasnt talented When I saw Rohit and wanted him to get admission to our school Swami Vivekananda School BorivaliThe monthly tuition fee was Rs 275 and his parents couldnt afford that I had to convince the principal and school management and Rohit Sharma was the first talented player allotted freeship He was that talented that I couldnt have let him goAlso ReadChokers can become champions tooA friendly character who is ready to stand by his player if he believes in him it does make a player go that extra yard like Shreyas Iyer put it succinctly after the semifinalsI was under pressure but the skippers faith in me was very essential He told me that we management have faith in you and whatever is being said is outside noise Iyer told the broadcasters about his captains role in his turnroundThe most beautiful sight after Indias semifinal victory over New Zealand was an ecstatic Rohit with his hands up in the air smiling while looking skywardsThe captain has done his hard yards and it is time for his teammates to win it for their skipper You cant wait for the captain to flash that smile Thats as priceless as the World CupWith agency inputs