Sunil Gavaskar runs into Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar; exposes Australian tour mistakes
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar urged the BCCI not to repeat the mistakes of the Australia tour in the England tour. He was not happy that the team arrived in Australia without their skipper Rohit Sharma, saying it sent the wrong message.
The Indian cricket team had a terrible outing on their tour of Australia. Rohit Sharma & Co were on the receiving end of a 3-1 defeat by Pat Cummins, who won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 10 years.
India played the first test without their skipper Rohit Sharma in Perth
India played the first Test without their captain Rohit Sharma in Perth as the captain missed the match due to the birth of his second child. The opening batsman then joined the team in Adelaide and it turned out to be one of the worst tours of his career.
It even forced Rohit Sharma to sit out the last game in Sydney. In the three matches he played in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the captain of the Indian national cricket team scored just 31 runs at an average of around 6, which put his place in the team in question.
The team was without a captain, vice-captain and coach for the first two days in Australia – Sunil Gavaskar criticizes Rohit Sharma
Sunil Gavaskar analyzed India’s poor performances in Australia, pointing out that the team should arrive in England in one group and not in four series as was done in Australia. He pointed out that India were without their captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain for the first two days, which sent the wrong message. Writing in his column, he explained:
“The mistakes made in Australia should not be repeated. The team should arrive in England in one group, not in four series as was done in Australia. The first two days in Australia the team was without a captain, vice-captain and coach. What kind of message does that send to the home team?
“Here is a team that has arrived without a leadership group and can easily break with a few tough performances. Surely the BCCI will not allow this to happen again. Yes, the odd player recovering from injury can join the team later, but the leaders must be the first to will arrive to make a statement that the team is ready for battle.”
Carrying more than 16 players will show selectors are insecure – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar further attacked the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar for taking 20 players to Australia. He said that even if the team takes more than 16 players to England, it will send the wrong message that the selectors are not safe. He added that he should only take netminders, not players who will get a chance. He added:
“It was somewhat understandable to have a large team of around 20 people for Australia, because it’s not easy to get to places and the body clock takes a few days to adjust to the local time zone. It’s not so much of a problem in England, but the change in weather conditions from the hot Indian summer to the cold winds in England can be tricky at the best of times.
“However, carrying more than 16 players will mean that the rosters are not secure and that is never a good sign. Just because the BCCI can afford to send a large number of players does not mean that India should be given the cap just like that. A common problem overseas is the lack of bowlers practicing, so by all means take a few bowlers and they can get training and clothes but not an Indian cap.” concluded Sunil Gavaskar.
