“An Underrated Leader” — Michael Clarke Praises Veteran Indian Batter After AUS vs IND ODIs

Former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke praised Rohit Sharma, calling him an underrated captain in white-ball cricket. His comments followed Rohit’s brilliant unbeaten century in the final ODI against Australia in Sydney on October 25. In what could be his last international knock on Australian soil, the former India skipper dismantled the home attack with a classy 121* off 125 balls, steering India to a dominant nine-wicket win.

Rohit’s heroics earned him both the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards, even though India lost the three-match series 1–2. Under Rohit’s leadership, India have emerged as a formidable force in limited-overs cricket, clinching two major ICC trophies — the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

“Rohit’s Captaincy Is Underrated, Kohli And He Among The Best White-Ball Players” — Michael Clarke

Along with praising Rohit Sharma, Michael Clarke also showered admiration on Virat Kohli during his appearance on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, stating:

“What a way for both players to leave the Australian shores. I’ve always loved the way Rohit plays and he has been a very good player in Australian conditions, which is totally opposite to India. His captaincy is underrated. He was a very, very good short-form captain for India. And he’s one of the best white-ball players to have played. He’s definitely in that conversation.”

He further continued:

“Again, Virat is the best ODI cricketer that I’ve seen, given the amount of games he has won for his team. The batting conditions were a lot better in Sydney, especially batting second, unlike the last two games where they lost the toss and got sent in. If they would have had the best of batting conditions maybe the series would have been different.”

After recording consecutive ducks in the first two ODIs, Kohli bounced back in style, crafting an unbeaten 74 off 81 balls in the Sydney encounter, where he shared an unbroken 168-run stand for the second wicket.