Sunil Gavaskar Not Surprised To See Rohit Sharma Being Appointed As New Test Captain

Updated - 19 Feb 2022, 11:31 PM

Sunil Gavaskar, Rohit Sharma. (Photo: Twitter)

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Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar has said that he was not surprised to see that the senior opening batsman Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the new Test captain of the India National Cricket Team.

The Test captaincy position was vacant in Indian cricket since Virat Kohli had decided to step down from his role following the Test series defeat in South Africa against the Dean Elgar-led side. Meanwhile, on Saturday, February 19, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Rohit Sharma as the new Test captain during the squad announcement for the Sri Lanka series.

Rohit Sharma. India vs England — Image Source: Twitter

Batting legend Gavaskar said that Rohit and Kohli play all-formats and if Kohli is not leading the team it was obvious to give the captaincy to Rohit. He said:

“The guy who is a certainty in all three formats – when the selection committee sits down and think of who are the certainties, then Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s names will come up. And between them, Kohli is not doing captaincy, so it had to be Rohit Sharma. There was no surprise there.”

Rishabh Pant’s name had come up because we didn’t know about Rohit Sharma’s fitness – Sunil Gavaskar

While talking about Rohit’s captaincy in limited-overs cricket Gavaskar said that the players seem to have more clarity and they are aware of what the captain expects from them. He said:

“The way he has handled the team. The way players are getting clarity. I won’t say there wasn’t clarity earlier. That would be wrong to say as I was not in the dressing room, so I don’t know. But from the way he speaks, it seems like the players know their roles. And they know what the team expects from them and what the captain expects from them.”

Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, Test — Image Source: Twitter

He added that the wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant’s name had come up for Test captaincy mainly because of the fitness issues faced by senior opening batsman Rohit. He asserted:

“Rishabh Pant’s name had come up because we didn’t know about Rohit Sharma’s fitness. But if he is completely fit, no one else can be the captain for all three formats. It was the correct decision.”

Also Read: IND vs SL: Parthiv Patel Reacts After Jasprit Bumrah Is Nominated As Vice-Captain For Sri Lanka Test Series

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