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Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar opened up after India’s 0-3 drubbing against New Zealand in the recently-concluded Test series at home. While this was the first-ever Test series defeat for India in 12 years, it was also their first-ever series whitewash in home Tests so far. Although, this defeat has hammered their chances of making it to their third straight World Test Championship (WTC) Final, which is set to be played in June 2025 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
However, the Men in Blue will aim to keep their past performance at bay as they are set to lock horns with Australia down under in the highly-anticipated five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series, starting from November 22. As the attention now moves to BGT, Sunil Gavaskar claimed that with Rohit Sharma likely to be unavailable for the Perth Test, Jasprit Bumrah should be named the captain as the captain needs to be there since the start.
It is important for the captain to play the first Test match: Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar’s comments come after Rohit Sharma stated that he is “not sure” of his availability. Speaking after India’s series whitewash against New Zealand in Mumbai, Rohit said, “Not sure whether I will be going, fingers crossed.” Meanwhile, Gavaskar while speaking on SportsTak claimed, “It is important for the captain to play the first Test match. It’s different if he is injured, but if he is not available, then the deputy leader will be under a lot of pressure,”
“I have been reading that Rohit Sharma might not play the first two Tests of the Australia series. I feel that, in that case the selection committee should appoint Jasprit Bumrah the captain of the side for the entire Australia tour, and tell Rohit Sharma that you will participate as a player in this series. For the first Test match, Rohit Sharma has to be there,” Gavaskar further added.
It is to be noted that Rohit Sharma is expecting his second child with wife Ritika Sajdeh and might miss the first Test due to the same reason. However, the 37-year-old is not sure of the same at this point of time.
India cannot beat Australia 4-0 in Test series: Sunil Gavaskar ahead of BGT 2024-25
The legendary batter also highlighted if India could beat Australia down under to claim hat-trick of wins in BGT. When asked about it, Gavaskar said, “No, I don’t. I actually don’t. India cannot beat Australia 4-0 in the Test series.”
He also added, “If they do that, I would be over the moon if they do that. But 4-0. India can win 3-1, 4-0 is, don’t talk about the World Test Championship final. Now just focus on trying to win the series in Australia. Never mind whether you win 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 2-1. But go and win. Because that is how all of us Indian cricket fans are going to be back to feeling good again.”.
