Gavaskar slams Rohit Sharma for missing first Test in Australia, urges India to not give caps ‘just like that’ | Cricket News

India’s large contingent and the absence of captain Rohit Sharma in the early days of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia has not gone down well with batting legend Sunil Gavaskar.
Gavaskar lamented that Rohit’s absence in the Perth Test due to the birth of his second child did not help the side, after having opined in October that the Mumbaikar be replaced Jasprit Bumrah as the captain for the entire tour.
With Rohit’s horror series also ending in an embarassing 3-1 defeat for India that also knocked them out of the ICC World Test Championship, Gavaskar has launched a fresh attack on the captain and the team management. In his latest column for Sportstar, Gavaskar remarked that India must make overhauls before the next WTC cycle begins in England with five Tests between June and August.
“The makes that were made in Australia should not be repeated. The team should arrive in England in one group and not in four batches as was done in Australia. For the first two days in Australia, the team was without captain, vice-captain and coach. What kind of a message does it send to the home team? Surely the BCCI will not allow this to happen again. Yes, the odd player who is recovering from injury can join the team later, but the leaders must be the first to arrive to make a statement that the team is ready for battle,” wrote Gavaskar.
The batting great also fired an attack on the national selectors for handing out India caps on a whim from a large pool in Australia and has insed the team to carry only 16 players for the England trip.
“It was understandable to some extent to have a large squad of around 20 for Australia, as it is not an easy place to reach, and the body clock does take a few days to adjust to the local time zone. This is not so much of a problem in England, but the change in weather conditions from the hot Indian summer to the cool winds in England can be tricky at the best of times. Still, carrying more than 16 players will indicate the selectors are unsure, and that’s never a good sign. Just because the BCCI can afford to send a large party doesn’t mean the India cap should be given just like that.”

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