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Days after the conclusion of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, former India cricketer and legend, Sunil Gavaskar hailed Rohit Sharma for bringing up the aggressive intent in the second Test, which was played in Kanpur. The legendary cricketer highlighted that the credit should go to Rohit Sharma and not the newly appointed Head Coach, Gautam Gambhir.
Expressing himself in the column of Sportstar, Gavaskar expressed disappointment at Gautam Gambhir receiving all the credit and recognition for India’s gameplay rather than Rohit Sharma, under whose leadership, India has embraced an aggressive style of cricket. He also hit back at Gambhir fans, labelling it as “foot-licking of the highest order”.
Foot-licking of highest order: Gavaskar hits back at Gambhir fans
Sharing his inputs after India's Test series win against Bangladesh in the column, the legendary cricketer also criticised the nicknames that people have coined, associated with their coaches. Gavaskar added that it is unjustifiable of crediting Gambhir for the team’s tactics and taking out nicknames like, ‘Gamball’ while drawing comparison with Brendon McCullum’s successful approach which has been recognised as ‘Bazball’.
"While the England batting approach changed completely under the new regime of Ben Stokes and McCullum, we have seen over the last couple of years that Rohit has been batting like this and encouraging his team to do so as well. Gambhir has only been coaching for a couple of months, so attributing this approach to him is foot-licking of the highest quality,” Gavaskar said as mentioned in the Sportstar column.
“Gambhir himself hardly ever batted in this fashion like McCullum used to do. If any credit is due, it is solely to Rohit and nobody else," he further added. "Just as any scandal is now called this-gate or that-gate after the Watergate scandal over 50 years ago in the USA, this Indian batting approach was labelled this-ball and that-ball after the term "Bazball" was coined for the England team's batting attitude,” Gavaskar continued.
It is to be noted that the word ‘Bazball’ came from "Baz", which is the nickname of their coach, Brendon McCullum from New Zealand, who was top-notch with the bat during his playing days and he has instilled this strategy in the England line-up too.
Speaking of Rohit Sharma-led Team India’s Test campaign, while they sit comfortably at the top of the points table after their 2-0 series win against Bangladesh, they will next take on New Zealand in a three-match Test series, starting from October 16. The Men in Blue will eye to make it to their third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) Final in 2025 and will hope to register a clean sweep against the Black Caps too.
