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Sunil Gavaskar lays the blame of India’s recent defeats on squarely on the shoulders of the team’s thinktank comprising captain, vice-captain and coach.
Sunil Gavaskar (right) doesn’t look very happy with Gautam Gambhir’s stint as India coach so far. (PTI Photo)
Gautam Gambhir’s stint as India head coach is still in its infancy but it has already created all sorts of noise. Under him, India have played five series thus far and won three of them. They lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka and then suffered a whitewash at the hands of New Zealand in a three-match Test series at home. The latest setback has resulted in widespread criticism of his approach and the quality of Indian batters who have appeared clueless against spinners which , not long ago, used to be their strength.
When asked to comment on Gambhir’s tenure so far, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was quite unforgiving and blamed the results on the team’s thinktank that comprises captain, vice-captain and the head coach.
“The results speak for themselves. Even in Sri Lanka, India lost an ODI series after a long time. And now here, it’s a loss, it’s a terrible loss. So, I think the results speak for themselves,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“Well, I think every team has a think tank. Probably the captain, vice-captain and the coach — these are the guys who take the decisions. If it doesn’t work out, it looks bad. I think these decisions would have been taken by the think tank,” he added.
India Test captain Rohit Sharma recently revealed that he’s unsure whether he will be available for the first Test of India’s upcoming five-match series in Australia. Gavaskar says if Rohit isn’t available for the start of the tour then the selectors should appoint a different captain for the entire series.
“I have been reading that Rohit Sharma might not play the first two Tests of the Australia series. I feel that, in that case, the selection committee should appoint Jasprit Bumrah the captain of the side for the entire Australia tour, and tell Rohit Sharma that you will participate as a player in this series. For the first Test match, Rohit Sharma has to be there,” Gavaskar said.
“It is important for the captain to play the first Test match. It’s different if he is injured, but if he is not available, then the deputy leader will be under a lot of pressure,” Gavaskar added.
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