After a bad effort in India’s first ODI against Australia in Perth on Sunday, veteran opener Rohit Sharma came under fire. The visitors lost by seven wickets (DLS method). Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli both made their long-awaited returns to international cricket in this match, although neither of them had an impact, scoring 8 and 0, respectively.
The match was also Rohit’s first ODI as not the captain of India, which added to the drama. Shubman Gill was the new ODI captain. After the loss, several supporters on social media said that Rohit had purposely played poorly to hurt Gill’s leadership. This idea immediately spread and caused a lot of online discussion.
Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, on the other hand, firmly rejected these conspiracy ideas, calling them “completely baseless” and not how professional players play the game.
“Many Indian cricket fans have the wrong idea that if a player is ousted as captain, he will try to hurt the new captain by not playing well. Gavaskar said in his column for The Sportstar, “Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that if a captain is replaced and then doesn’t do his job, he could be out of the team completely.”
“So, no player, no matter how upset he is about losing the captaincy, is ever going to play badly on purpose,” he said.
“Gill Will Do Better With Rohit and Virat Next To Him”
Gavaskar also liked how Shubman Gill led his team, noting that having Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the dressing room will help the young skipper a lot.
“Because that false idea is still running strong, a lot of people are wondering if young Shubman Gill will be able to deal with two former captains, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who are in the series against Australia. Gavaskar noted, “Gill has gone out of his way to say that his relationship with them hasn’t changed just because he is the captain now.”
He also said that Rohit and Kohli have always put the team first and can give the new captain significant knowledge and strategic advice.
“Having these two great players by his side will only help him.” If asked, both would be willing to give advice. And what could be better for a captain leading in this format for the first time than to have two of the best ODI players on his team? Gavaskar said in the end.
India will try to bounce back in the second ODI against Australia, which is set for Thursday at the Adelaide Oval.