"He panics a bit under pressure"- Shoaib Akhtar feels Rohit Sharma 'should not have taken the captaincy' of Team India

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has been a big fan of Rohit Sharma's batting and has also been vocal about why he feels the Indian captain is arguably more talented than Virat Kohli.

However, Akhtar reckons Rohit shouldn't have taken the captaincy as he feels he latter tends to panic under pressure instead of staying calm. Nevertheless, he also feels that Rohit has a chance to win the World Cup at home.

Speaking to RevSportz, here's what Shoaib Akhtar had to say about Rohit Sharma's captaincy:

"Rohit is a great guy. But I don't think he should have taken the captaincy. He panics a bit under pressure. He is perhaps more talented than even Virat Kohli and has all the shots. But does captaincy suit him? I question myself most of the time. But he will have the home crowd behind him and has the ability to win the World Cup."

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Media puts a lot of pressure on Indian players: Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar made a bold claim that one of the main reasons why India haven't won an ICC Trophy since 2013 has been because of the pressure that the media creates around the Men in Blue during the build-up to big games.

He also slammed the media for scrutinizing the players too much after a loss. On this, he stated:

"I feel after 2013, captaincy has become a bit crippled. Virat sometimes used to be over-aggressive. Rohit used to panic a bit too much. The media puts too much pressure on the players. They show as if India just cannot lose the match. Why can't they? They also slam them when they lose. Don't do this."

There are still question marks on the fitness of players like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer with India still waiting to announce their Asia Cup squad.