Gavaskar criticizes Rohit’s captaincy, ‘doesn’t matter how he is selected’

Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on Rohit Sharma’s captaincy tenure, expressing his disappointment with the star Indian batsman. Despite his prior experience of leading in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for several years, Gavaskar expressed concern over the team’s performance since Sharma became captain of the national team.

Scott Boland in England this year:

WTC Final – 5/105.

2nd Ashes Test – 2/231. pic.twitter.com/ED3FMcBjK0– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) 9 July 2023

Apart from India’s recent humiliating defeat in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) against Australia, Gavaskar also highlighted their failure to reach the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, where they suffered a humiliating 10-wicket defeat to England in the semi-finals. Had to do Final. “I expected more from him (Rohit). In India, it is different, but when you do well overseas, that is the real test. That’s where he has been somewhat disappointing. Even Even in the T20 format, despite his vast experience, Gavaskar said in an interview with the Indian Express Idea Exchange, “It has been disappointing to see a team with the best IPL players not make it to the finals even after captaining in the IPL and many matches. ”

Gavaskar urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the selectors to raise important questions to Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid. He pointed out various errors made by the team in the WTC final loss. “He should be asking questions like, ‘Why did you choose to field first?’ Although it was reported at the time of the toss that it was cloudy, the next question should be, ‘Weren’t you aware of Travis Head’s weakness against short balls?’ Why was a bouncer used only after scoring 80? When Head came out to bat, Ricky Ponting in the commentary box immediately suggested, ‘Bounce him, bounce him.’ Everyone knew it, Gavaskar said, but we didn’t try.

Responding to Rohit’s comments about the lack of preparation ahead of the West Indies tour, the 73-year-old also questioned whether the team had learned any lessons from the WTC final defeat. Gavaskar strongly criticized the idea of ​​workload management. “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 in front of you. Are you playing any matches? So, all this talk about 20-25 days What are?” … When you talk about preparation, be real about it. Go 15 days in advance, play two practice matches. The core players can rest, but the fringe players can really challenge those who are not performing well. If they don’t do that they will get a chance to show that they are good enough,” Gavaskar said.

“The truth is, key players don’t want to go early because they know they’ll be picked no matter what. And when you go early, they’ll talk about the workload. You claim to be the fittest team. You are fitter than the world or previous generations, so how do you get cracked so easily? How come you have workload problems when you play a 20-over game?” The Indian batting legend concluded.