Sunil Gavaskar has questioned Rohit Sharma's aggressive batting approach during ODI powerplays. His remarks came after head coach Gautam Gambhir defended the India captain amid concerns over his form.
Rohit did brush aside the concerns over his form with an ODI century against England, lead-up to the Champions Trophy, but only managed 104 runs in four outings in the tournament so far.
Gambhir hit back at Rohit's critics, saying numbers don't define the India captain's contribution rather the explosive starts which he has been giving consistently matter the most.
"You evaluate from the stats; we evaluate from the impact. As journalists, as experts, you only look at numbers, averages. But as a coach, as a team, we don't look at numbers or averages. If the captain puts up his hand first, then there is nothing better than that for the dressing room," Gambhir said after India's semi-final win against Australia on Tuesday (March 4).
Virat Kohli now has 50 fifty-plus scores in successful ODI run-chases - the most in history 😲
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Among batters with at least 3,000 runs in chases, no one boasts a higher average in wins.
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Speaking to India Today, Gavaskar, however, urged Rohit to reconsider his overly-aggressive batting style in the final against New Zealand. He reckoned that Rohit can single-handedly win matches for India if he bats longer.
"This is an approach he has been following for the last two years or so. It started around the World Cup in India, and he has been sticking to that formula. He has had some success, though perhaps not as much as his talent should warrant. He is an incredibly talented player with a range of shots that not many others in the game possess," Gavaskar said.
"Therefore, from an aesthetic point of view, from a crowd-pleasing perspective - I am not speaking from the team's point of view - if he bats for even 25 overs, India will be around 180-200. Imagine if they have lost only a couple of wickets by then; just think what they could do-they could reach 350 or more."
Gavaskar: Your impact on the team will be even greater if you bat for 25 overs
While Rohit has struck at 107.21, he hasn’t got a notable score, with the highest being a 36-ball 41 in India’s tournament opener against Bangladesh. Taking the attack to the opposition right from the word go is something Rohit has adopted in recent years, allowing India’s middle order to play more freely. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, he batted with a similar template, finishing as the second-highest run-getter (597) while striking at 125.94. Gavaskar, however, was still apprehensive of Rohit's methods.
"He also needs to give it some thought. It's one thing to go out and play aggressively, but there has to be a bit of discretion somewhere to give himself the chance to bat for 25-30 overs. If he does that, he takes the game away from the opposition," he added.
"That kind of impact is match-winning. And I think, as a batter, are you happy with scoring 25-30 runs? You shouldn't be! So that is what I would say to him: your impact on the team will be even greater if you bat for 25 overs instead of just seven, eight, or nine overs."
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