New Delhi . Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has said that he is disappointed with Rohit Sharma’s tenure as the captain of the team. He said that he expected more from the 36-year-old opener.
Apart from this, he also called for increasing the accountability of the coaching staff.
In February last year, Rohit took charge of the team after Virat Kohli. Although India has done well in bilateral home series under his leadership, he has faced difficulties in achieving success in major tournaments. India failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup final in Australia and also lost the World Test Championship final to the Kangaroos last month.
Gavaskar told The Indian Express, “I expected more from him (Rohit). It’s different in India, but when you do well overseas that’s the real test. That’s where he’s been a bit disappointing. Even That even with all the IPL experience and having captained hundreds of matches, it is disappointing not to be able to make it to the T20 format with the best players in the IPL.”
The former Indian skipper wanted to know whether the team management had done a thorough review of India’s defeat. Specifically referring to India’s defeat to Australia in the WTC final last month, he stressed that coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit should be held accountable for explaining the decisions taken during the match.
He said, “The question he should ask is, ‘Why did you field first?’ Well, at the time of the toss it was said that it was cloudy etc-etc. The question then should be, ‘You didn’t know about Travis Head’s weakness against the short ball?’ Why was he bowled a bouncer when he had scored 80. You know, as soon as Head came out to bat, Ricky Ponting was saying in the commentary box, ‘Give him a bouncing ball, give him a bouncing ball’. Everyone knew about it but we didn’t try.”
Team India is set to begin its 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a two-match Test series against the West Indies from 12 July.
The series will be followed by three ODIs and five T20 matches.(IANS)
