The possibility of Rohit Shama’s unavailability for the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Australia because of personal reasons is not the ideal situation for the Indian team whose hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) are in jeopardy after the whitewash at home against New Zealand.
The Kiwis defeated India 3-0 to become the first team to register a clean sweep in a three-Test series on the Indian soil, which has rocked India’s preparation and confidence ahead of their defence of the BGT.
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On that note, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes it’s paramount to have clarity about the leader well before the opening match of a tour as important as Australia.
“Captain should play the opening Test. It would have been different had he been injured. But if a captain is not available right in the first Test match of the series, then it would put a lot of pressure on the deputy leader and that is not easy,” said Gavaskar talking to India Today.
The batting legend said that the BCCI should name Rohit’s deputy Jasprit Bumrah as the captain for the entire series as it’s not clear when Rohit can join the team in Australia.
He said the chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, needs to convey that to Rohit clearly.
“We see reports saying Rohit won’t play the opening Test, and we don’t know yet about his availability for the second Test. If that is true, then Agarkar should right now tell him, ‘Whatever you wish to do, you can, whether you want to take rest, you can, that is a personal reason; but for this tour you can only participate as a player. You can join the Indian squad whenever you want, but for this tour, we are naming the vice-captain as the leader’,” said Gavaskar.
“There should be clarity because we lost 0-3 against New Zealand, so the captain has to be there. Indian cricket is the most important thing. Had India won the New Zealand series 3-0, it would have been a different case.”.
