Why is batting legend Gavaskar disappointed by Rohit Sharma's captaincy?

Sunil Gavaskar even questioned Rohit Sharma's statement about the lack of preparation ahead of the WTC final

With India failing to win knockout matches under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar criticised the captain and team management.

Speaking at an event, Gavaskar said Rohit's captaincy has been disappointing.

"I expected more from Rohit. In India it is different, but when you do well overseas that is really the test. That is where he has been a little disappointing. 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 added.

 

The former India captain also questioned selectors and BCCI, stating whether a proper review of India's losses was done or not.

Talking about India's World Test Championship final debacle against Australia, Gavaskar said that BCCI should have sought an explanation from coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit.

"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 into bat, in the commentary box, we had Ricky Ponting saying, 'Bounce him, bounce him.' Everyone knew about it but we didn't try."

Rohit Sharma captaincy record
Format	Matches	Won	Lost	Draw	Tie	No result	Win%
Test	7	4	2	1	0	0	57.14
ODI	26	19	7	0	0	0	73.08
T20I	51	39	12	0	0	0	76.47
IPL	158	87	67	0	4	0	55.06

As of July 10, 2023

Gavaskar even questioned Rohit's statement about lack of preparation ahead of the WTC final, stating Team India had been in West Indies well before the start of the series, but still, they were not playing any practice or warm-up games.

"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, play two warm-up matches."

Rohit Sharma's Batting records as captain
Format	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike rate	Highest score	50s/100s
Test	11	390	35.5	61.61	120	0/1
ODI	26	1163	55.4	104.02	208 n.o.	7/3
T20I	51	1527	32.5	147.36	118	10/2
IPL	157	3986	28.1	129.37	98 no	25/0

74-year-old Gavaskar also points out that senior players don't want to go early, given they are assured of their spots.

"The truth is the main guys do not want to go early. 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?"

After the WTC final defeat, India will begin their 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle with a two-match Test series against West Indies, starting July 12.

India schedule for West Indies tour

India vs West Indies Test schedule
Date	Match Details	Time(IST)	Venue
July 12-16	1st Test	7:30 PM	Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica
July 20-24	2nd Test	7:30 PM	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad

 

IND vs WI ODI schedule
Date	Match details	Time (IST)	Venue
27-Jul	1st ODI	7:00 PM	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
29-Jul	2nd ODI	7:00 PM	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
1-Aug	3rd ODI	7:00 PM	Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad

India vs West Indies T20Is schedule
Date	Match details	Time (IST)	venue
3-Aug	1st T20I	8:00 PM	Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad
6-Aug	2nd T20I	8:00 PM	Providence Stadium, Guyana
8-Aug	3rd T20I	8:00 PM	Providence Stadium, Guyana
12-Aug	4th T20I	8:00 PM	Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida
13-Aug	5th T20I	8:00 PM	Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida