IND vs WI: Former Indian legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar is not happy with how team India skipper, Rohit Sharma has functioned in the team in the recent past. Gavaskar reckons Rohit Sharma has been disappointing following multiple failures in marquee tournaments in such a short period.
Notably, Gavaskar was one of the experts who had hailed BCCI’s move to appoint Rohit Sharma as the successor of Virat Kohli in 2022. He talked highly of Sharma and thought the duo of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid would bring healthy changes in the fortunes of Indian cricket in the ICC tournaments.
However, with multiple failures including the exit from the T20 World Cup 2022 and the recent ICC World Test Championship loss, Gavaskar has questioned the functioning of the Indian coaching staff.
“I expected more from him (Rohit). In India it is different, but when you do well overseas that is really the test. That is where he has been a little disappointing. Even in the T20 format, with all the experience of the IPL, hundreds of matches as captain, with a mix of best IPL players not being able to get to the finals has been disappointing,” said Gavaskar.
Scrutinising team India’s decisions during the ICC WTC Final against Australia, the Little Master questioned the Indian team’s approach and calls.
“They should be asking questions, ‘Why did you field first?’ asked Gavaskar while speaking at The Indian Express Idea Exchange earlier this week. “Okay, it was explained at the toss that it was overcast and all. The question after that should be, ‘You didn’t know about Travis Head’s weakness against the short ball?’ Why was the bouncer employed only when he had scored 80 runs? You know, the moment Head came into bat, in the commentary box, we had Ricky Ponting saying, ‘Bounce him, bounce him.’ Everyone knew about it but we didn’t try.”
Post India’s loss in the WTC Final, Rohit Sharma pinned lack of preparation as one of the key reasons for their defeat. However, again questioning the intentions, Gavaskar launched a scathing attack on the senior players, who, according to Gavaskar, deliberately delay their travel to the host country.
“What kind of preparation are we talking about? Now they have gone to the West Indies. You have the example of the World Test Championship before you. Are you playing any matches? So what is this talk about 20-25 days? … When you talk about preparation, be genuine about it. Go 15 days before, play two warm-up matches. The main guys can rest, but the fringe players might be actually challenging those who are not doing well. He does not get an opportunity to show that he is good enough.”
“The truth is the main guys do not want to go early. Because they know that come what may, they will get selected.”
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