Sunil Gavaskar said that if it’s not clear whether Rohit Sharma can play in the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, the selection committee should pick a new captain, and Rohit should just play as a batter.
Reports say that Rohit might miss the first Test or the second one for personal reasons. In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah, who is the vice-captain, will lead the team. Abhimanyu Easwaran is expected to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Sunil Gavaskar thinks that having the vice-captain lead the team in the first Test might put too much pressure on him.
While talking to Sports Tak, Sunil Gavaskar said, “It is important for the skipper to play in the opening Test. If he is not fit then it is a different scenario. If your captain is not available in the first match, then your deputy will be under pressure. It is never easy to lead a side. I read somewhere that Rohit Sharma will not play in the first Test and he could miss the second game as well. The selections should tell him to rest if the issue is personal.”
“When you are done with your personal stuff, you can return as a pute batter and not captain. We are giving the captain’s armband to the team’s vice-captain for the tour. It is important to have a leader from the start. When you lose a Test series 3-0, it becomes important to have a captain.”
The cricket legend said that after losing to New Zealand, India needs a captain who can bring the players together before the Australia tour begins.
“Indian cricket is above everything. If we had defeated New Zealand 3-0, the situation would have been different. However, we lost the series 0-3 and there is a need for a captain, who can unite the players. If your captain is unavailable from the start, it is better to go ahead with a new skipper,” Gavaskar added.
India squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar
Traveling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
