Follow UsOne of the most successful batters in the history of Test cricket, Sunil Gavaskar wants India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar to appoint Jasprit Bumrah as the captain for the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy if Rohit Sharma is going to miss the opening Test in Perth, starting on November 22.
Following India’s embarrassing 3-0 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand, the opening batter admitted that he is ‘not sure’ if he will be with the side for the curtain-raiser of the five-Test series in Australia. Rohit and his wife are said to be expecting the birth of their second child during the same time, and thus the team India skipper is likely to remain home on paternity leave.
"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," Gavaskar told India Today.
"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'.
"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.”
Gavaskar was also not impressed with Indian batters trying to be over aggressive against New Zealand. The 75-year-old said this approach will never work consistently in red-ball cricket and it was because of this approach Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were removed from the set-up. Against New Zealand, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar were the only two Indian batters who looked comfortable in these conditions.
"The real issue is the thinking where again the short boundaries and big bats mean that batters, after playing three or four dot balls, think they can change the momentum by going for a big shot. It may work with the white ball, which doesn't swing, seam, or spin as much, but with the red ball, it's flirting with danger, especially if one has just come in to bat," Gavaskar told Sportstar.
"Test cricket requires some patience, especially on pitches where the bowlers are getting some assistance, but not many modern batters believe in that. Then there's this new thinking that, come what may, we will play only at breakneck speed in a five-day game, and that means there is not much thought given to tiring the bowler out or waiting for conditions to improve.
"That's why Pujaras and Rahanes have no place in the Indian team's plans. Pujara wore down the Australian attack, as did Rahane, and so the stroke-makers could take advantage of a tired attack and flog it and make up for a slow but watchful start. That kind of thinking is not there. Now there's this business of belting the ball like England batters are doing and losing badly overseas.”
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