Expected more from Rohit SharmaSunil Gavaskar left disappointed by Indian team skipper's captaincy

By India Today Sports DeskSunil Gavaskar has said that he has been disappointed with Rohit Sharma’s tenure as the captain of the Indian team and said he expected more from the opening batter.

Rohit took over as the full-time captain of the Indian side in February last year after Virat Kohli’s time as the skipper came to an end. While India’s record in bilateral home series has been good under the opener, the team has struggled to find success in major tournaments.

India bowed out in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Australia last year and went on to lose the World Test Championship 2023 final against the Aussies last month at the Oval.

Speaking at the Indian Express Idea Exchange, Gavaskar said that he expected more from Rohit as the captain and has been left disappointed with a few aspects of his reign.

“I expected more from him (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 also wanted to know if a review of the captain and the team management was done in the aftermath of the losses of the Indian team. The legendary batter specifically pointed out to the WTC Final and said Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid should have been asked about the decisions they made during the match.

“They should be asking questions, ‘Why did you field first?’ Okay, it was explained at the toss that it was overcast and all. The question after that should be, ‘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 in to bat, in the commentary box, we had Ricky Ponting saying, ‘Bounce him, bounce him.’ Everyone knew about it but we didn’t try.”