Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has asked 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 captain Rohit Sharma, saying it sent the wrong message.
The Indian National Cricket Team had a dreadful outing in their tour of Australia. Rohit Sharma & Co were on the receiving end of a 3-1 drubbing at the hands of the Pat Cummins-led side, who won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 10 years.
India played the first Test without their captain 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 innings of his career.
He even made Rohit Sharma sit out the last match in Sydney. In the three matches he played in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Indian national cricket team captain scored just 31 runs at an average of around 6 and this saw him in his place in the team being questioned.
First two days in Australia, team without captain, vice-captain and coach – Sunil Gavaskar slams Rohit Sharma
Sunil Gavaskar took a dig at India's poor performance in Australia, stressing that the team should come to England in one group and not in four groups like they did 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 that were made in Australia should not be repeated. The team should come to England in one group and not in four groups as it was done in Australia. In the first two days in Australia, the team was without captain, vice-captain .and what kind of message does the coach send to the home team?
“This is a team that has arrived without a leadership group and can easily be broken with a few tough performances. BCCI will surely not allow that to happen again. Yes, the odd player recovering from injury can join to the team later, but the leaders must be the first to arrive to declare the team ready for battle.”
Carrying more than 16 players will indicate that the selectors are not sure – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar further attacked the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee for taking 20 players to Australia. He said that even if a team takes more than 16 players to England, it will send the wrong message that the selectors are not confident. He added that they should simply take bowlers with them and not players who will be given a chance. He added:
“It was somewhat understandable to have a large squad of about 20 for Australia because it's not an easy place to get to and the body clock takes 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 summer in India to the cool winds in England can be difficult at best.
“However, carrying more than 16 players will indicate that the selectors are not sure, and that is never a good sign. Just because the BCCI can afford to send a big party doesn't mean India's cap should be given just like that. The usual problem. There is a dearth of training bowlers abroad, so by all means get some bowlers and they can be given training and clothing but not the Indian cap,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.