‘Continuity in leadership over family commitment’ – India legend’s brutal take on Rohit Sharma missing out on 1st ODI against Australia

Legend and former captain of the Indian cricket team, Sunil Gavaskar, expressed his displeasure at Rohit Sharma’s decision to leave the opening ODI match against Australia due to “family responsibilities,” saying that such justifications have no place during the year of the ODI World Cup.

In Rohit’s absence, Hardik Pandya served as the team’s captain, and the hosts secured the victory courtesy of a strong performance from KL Rahul. The visitors won the next two games. Therefore Rohit’s return to the lineup was insufficient for them to win the series. The squad requires “continuity in leadership,” according to Gavaskar, who was not pleased with Rohit’s choice.

‘Can’t have a captain who’s there for one match and not for next’ – Sunil Gavaskar

“I think he needs to play every game. You can’t have a captain who is there for one match and not there for the rest. It is so important. It can happen to any other player. I know it was a family commitment, so he had to be there. That’s understandable,” Sunil Gavaskar told.

“When it comes to the World Cup, you can’t have a family commitment; it’s as simple as that. Maybe before that, finish everything that you have unless it’s an emergency. Emergency is something completely different. You need continuity in leadership. There’s a feeling that you have got everybody with you. Otherwise, there are two leaders. Then there are two leaders that the team is looking at,” he added.

In a gripping third and final match on Wednesday in Chennai, Australian spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar flipped the series in their favour, handing Rohit Sharma’s men their first one-day international series loss at home since 2019. The first two deliveries of the 36th over by left-arm spinner Agar removed the world’s top-rated Twenty20 batsman Suryakumar Yadav for his third consecutive golden duck and the in-form Virat Kohli (54), leaving India reeling at 185-6 while chasing a target of 270 to win. After dismissing the hosts for 248 in the last over, the visitors prevailed by a margin of 21 runs.