Rohit Sharma injury: Fans need to know and there must be transparency, says Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar, the former India cricket team captain and opener, has stressed the BCCI needed to be transparent about the nature of Rohit Sharma’s injury and fans need to know in detail why has he not been picked in any of the squads for India’s tour to Australia after the end of IPL 2020.
Rohit Sharma has missed the last couple of games in the IPL 2020 due to a hamstring injury which he sustained after the end of the ‘double super over’ classic between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab. Rohit Sharma missed the game against Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. On Monday, the BCCI selection committee met and selected all the squads for the Indian cricket team’s upcoming tour to Australia which will be played immediately after the end of the IPL 2020. Rohit Sharma’s name was not present in any of the squads with the BCCI mentioning in their press release that Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma’s fitness will be monitored by the BCCI medical team.
However, to compound matters further, Mumbai Indians’ official Twitter handle released photos of Rohit Sharma practicing and it seemed that he had recovered from the injury. There was no official word from either the franchise or the BCCI on Rohit Sharma’s fitness and this led to plenty of criticism over the ‘confusion’ created by the BCCI.
Speaking in the Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders game, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar said that the BCCI needed to tell the fans what was the full nature of Rohit Sharma’s injury as they had every right know.
“What actually is the problem with him will help everybody. And if he is practising in the nets for Mumbai Indians, then honestly I don’t know what kind of injury it is. I think a little bit of transparency, a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody. The Indian cricket fan deserves to know, more than anything else. The franchisees, I understand. They don’t want to give their hand away. They don’t want to give the oppositions any psychological advantage. But we are talking about the Indian team here. Even Mayank Agarwal for example. For an Indian cricket fan, they ought to know what happens to two of their key players,” Gavaskar said.
An unnecessary conundrum
Mayank Agarwal was also injured and has missed a couple of games for Kings XI Punjab but the exclusion of Rohit Sharma is confounding, made worse by no communication from both the Indian cricket board and the Mumbai Indians franchise.
The BCCI selection committee met on Monday and there were some surprises in the Indian cricket team squad. Varun Chakravarthy, who picked up 5/20 in Kolkata Knight Riders’ win vs Delhi Capitals, has been included in the Indian cricket team T20 squad for the series against Australia. Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini have been included in the Test squad while bowlers like Ishan Porel, T Natarajan and Kartik Tyagi will all travel with the side as back-up bowlers.
India will leave for Australia immediately after the end of the IPL and they will start the series in Sydney and Canberra. With the lockdown ending in Melbourne, fans will be allowed to visit the stadium for the iconic Boxing Day Test which will begin on December 26. Sydney will host the New Year’s Test on January 7 while the final Test will be played in Brisbane, traditionally the venue for the first Test of the international summer in Australia.