Childhood coach Dinesh Lad feels Rohit Sharma plays pull shot better than Virat Kohli

Indian teams vice-captain Rohit Sharma's dig at the ICC over his non-inclusion in ICC's best pull-shot poll brought validation from his childhood coach Dinesh Lad. Lad praised Sharma for his confident pull-shot, which he mastered over the years.

In a recent turn of events, Sharma took a cheeky dig at the International Cricket Council (ICC). A poll created by the ICC on Twitter asked fans to pick the batsman with the best pull shot from the four choices that followed: Sir Vivian Richards, Ricky Ponting, Herschelle Gibbs, and Virat Kohli.

Sharma replied to the tweet, asking cricket's highest governing body whether or not they were missing someone in the list.

Someone’s missing here ?? Not easy to work from home I guess https://t.co/sbonEva7AM

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) March 22, 2020

Also see – IPL schedule

Speaking to Mid-day Lad explained how Sharma improved on his pull-shots and even became better at it than Indian captain Virat Kohli over the years. He further added that Sharma's glorious pull shots were an enthralling sight to watch and even compared it to that of legendary West Indian Sir Vivian Richards.

"Rohit is a master of this stroke [pull shot]. He is even better than the Indian captain. I am not saying this because I'm Rohit's coach, but according to me, he is the best puller in the world after Viv Richards."

Having seen Sharma play since a very young age, Lad knows Sharma's game and batting style better than most. The right-hander's antics in the CWC 2019, where he mastered his way to five hundreds, spoke volumes about his big-match presence. Pull shots remained one of the most scoring shots for Sharma throughout the mega-event. Looking at Sharma's recent shot selection, execution and timing of the ball while being on the front foot, Lad tagged Sharma as one of the hardest strikers in the game and also the best puller in today's world.

"In today's cricket, I rate Rohit as the No. 1 puller in the world. He has the ability to hit the ball hard and middle it while being on the front foot. That's a special quality to have."

Sharma scored 648 runs in 9 matches at an astonishing average of 81, scoring five tons and a fifty. His hard-hitting in the tournament was acknowledged by captain Kohli, who hailed Sharma as the best ODI batsman in the world at that time.