Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at India’s tactics during the World Test Championship final loss to Australia. He has asked for more accountability from captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid for the indifferent form of the Indian team in recent months.
Rohit Sharma took over as the Indian captain in all formats in February 2022. Since then, India failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup, and lost the WTC final to Australia in June. The string of poor results did not impress Gavaskar, who expected more of Rohit, who has led the Mumbai Indians to five titles at the Indian Premier League, between 2013 and 2020.
Speaking at The Indian Express Idea Exchange, Gavaskar said, “I expected more from him. Even in the T20 format, with all the experience of the IPL, hundreds of matches as captain, with a mix of best IPL players not being able to get to the finals has been disappointing.”
Gavaskar also criticised Rohit’s comments after the WTC final defeat at the Kia Oval. Rohit had blamed the lack of preparation as a factor for the defeat. The game against Australia was on June 7, nine days after the IPL final. Initially scheduled for May 28, the final, between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, was moved to the reserve day and eventually ended in the wee hours on May 30.
The Indian players who played the match – Mohammed Shami, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane – departed for the UK only on June 1, six days before the WTC final. No Australian played in the final.
“What kind of preparation are we talking about? Now they have gone to the West Indies. You have the example of the World Test Championship before you. Are you playing any matches? So what is this talk about 20-25 days?
“When you talk about preparation, be genuine about it. Go 15 days before, and play two warm-up matches. The main guys can rest, but the fringe players might be actually challenging those who are not doing well. He does not get an opportunity to show that he is good enough.”
Gavaskar also blamed the senior players for taking their spots for granted, which has led to their reluctance in travelling early for a series: “The truth is the main guys do not want to go early. Because they know that come what may, they will get selected. And when you go early they will talk about the workload. You call yourself the fittest team in the world or fitter than the early generations then how do you break down so soon? How do you have a workload issue when you play a 20-over game?”
Gavaskar also came down heavily on the coaches, including head coach Rahul Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathour and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey: “They should be asking questions. Why did you field first? Okay, it was explained at the toss that it was overcast and all.
“The question after that should be, ‘You didn’t know about Travis Head’s weakness against the short ball?’ Why was the bouncer employed only when he had scored 80 runs. You know, the moment Head came in to bat, in the commentary box, we had Ricky Ponting saying, ‘bounce him, bounce him.’ Everyone knew about it, but we didn’t try.
“If the batters are making the same mistakes over and over again, you need to ask what has happened with your technique. How have you tried to improve the batter? Have you tried to tell him, maybe take a different guard. Don’t take a leg-stump guard, take a middle-and-off-stump guard.”
