Legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar has opined that split captaincy isn’t made for Team India and he urged Rohit Sharma to be available for all international matches in the World Cup year. Despite starting the ODI series as favorites, India failed to win the ODI series at home. Skipper Rohit, who missed the series opener due to family commitments, led India in the second and third ODIs against Australia.
However, Rohit failed to do much with the bat against Australia, who recorded a famous 2-1 win over the hosts. In the absence of regular captain Rohit, India kickstarted the ODI series with an impressive win over Australia. Reflecting on India’s series defeat, batting legend Gavaskar observed that the veteran Indian opener should play every game for India in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup.
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Talking about the same during a chat with Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar said, “I think he needs to play every game. You can’t have a captain who is there for one match and not there for the rest. It is so important. It can happen to any other player but I think I know it was a family commitment, so he had to be there. That’s understandable.”
He further added, “When it comes to the World Cup, you can’t have a family commitment; it’s as simple as that. Maybe before that, finish everything that you have unless it’s an emergency. Emergency is something completely different.”
Rohit Sharma amassed 13 off 15 balls in the 2nd ODI which Australia won by 10 wickets. India’s all-format captain then failed to cash in on his start as the senior batter perished for 33 off 31 balls in the series decider.
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On the other hand, Sunil Gavaskar said, “You need continuity in leadership. There’s a feeling that you have got everybody with you, otherwise, there are two leaders. Then there are two leaders that the team is looking at.” Leading India’s chase in the series decider, former Indian skipper Virat Kohli kept the men in blue in the hunt as he scored 54 off 72 balls against Australia on Wednesday. However, Kohli’s gritty half-century went in vain as Rohit and his men suffered a 21-run loss.
