Follow UsFormer India captain Sunil Gavaskar doesn’t want Rohit Sharma to be satisfied with quickfire 20s and 30s in One-Day Internationals (ODIs). In the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Rohit has managed scores of 41, 20, 15 and 28 in four innings. The Indian captain has scored 104 runs at an average of 26 and a strike rate of 107.21.
“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,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“If Rohit Sharma 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.
“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. That kind of impact is match winning.”
Indian openers Rohit and Shubman Gill added 69 runs for the first wicket against Bangladesh but have managed partnerships of only 31, 15 and 30 since then.
“They haven’t (played to their maximum potential) because when you look at the openers, they haven’t really given the Indian team the kind of start that they had hoped for. That has not happened. So, clearly, I think there’s a shortcoming over there,” said Gavaskar.
India will play New Zealand in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on March 9 (Sunday).