Sunil Gavaskar hits back at Rohit Sharma after reports surface of BCCI complaint

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar slammed Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for their lack of intent during Mumbai's shocking defeat to Jammu and Kashmir. Sunil Gavaskar stated Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer made themselves available for the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match due to the BCCI's new mandate making Domestic Cricket compulsory.

The defending champions lost the match by five wickets at the MCA Ground. They struggled against the opposition pacers in both innings despite having a strong batting lineup, including national team stars like Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Their chances of qualifying for the knockouts were dashed.

It Can Work on Flat Pitches, But... - Sunil Gavaskar

In his column for Sportstar, Sunil Gavaskar expressed dissatisfaction with Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer's batting approach. He questioned their decision to adopt an aggressive batting strategy in testing conditions where a more measured approach was needed.

"The dismissal of Mumbai’s Test batters once again brought to the fore the perils of the all-out aggressive mode of batting that is nowadays thought of as being central to run-making. It can work on flat pitches, but on pitches where the ball is doing something, there has to be a technique good enough to keep out the good delivery," he wrote.

Rohit Sharma continued his poor run with the bat and scored just 3 and 28 in the two innings. Shreyas Iyer managed only 11 runs off seven balls in the first innings. Mumbai was already struggling at 47/7 when Iyer was out and was eventually bowled out for 120 runs. Iyer added 17 runs in the second innings.

They Did That Only to Ensure They Were Not Stripped of Their BCCI Contracts - Sunil Gavaskar

The India batting legend further raised concerns about whether Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer’s participation in the Ranji Trophy was driven by the BCCI’s new mandate. He pointed out that Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer faced exclusion from the Ranji Trophy last year.

"Whether their hearts were in it or they did that only to ensure they were not stripped of their BCCI contracts, like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were, after missing out on the Ranji Trophy games last year, is known only to them."

"Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s participation meant that Ayush Mhatre, who had got a couple of hundreds and some fifties, had to be left out of the Mumbai side. Hopefully, the youngster would have spent some time with both these players and picked their brains about adding to his batting ability," Sunil Gavaskar said.

Jammu and Kashmir’s pacers—Umar Nazir, Auqib Nabi, and Yudhvir Singh Charak—dominated with the new ball, causing significant damage to Mumbai’s batting. Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian tried to save the team with a crucial partnership. Shardul scored a century in Mumbai's second innings.

There Are More Chances of a Dismissal - Sunil Gavaskar

Reflecting on India's collapse against Australia in Sydney, Gavaskar attributed it to the team’s lack of trust in their defensive techniques. He stated that the aggressive batting approach, which has become common in Test cricket, led to unnecessary dismissals.

"There are more chances of a dismissal while looking to play in a manner that one is not used to, as was seen in the recent Sydney Test [between India and Australia] when rushes of blood caused some silly-looking dismissals. A bit of common sense and patience, rather than a fatalistic approach, could have gotten another 50 runs, and that could well have altered the result of the match and the series," he added.

Also read: India's batting coach ready to offer Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma his services only if..