Sunil Gavaskar rips into Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar; exposes Australia tour blunders

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has urged BCCI to not repeat the mistakes of the Australia tour on the England tour. He wasn't happy that the team reached Australia without their skipper Rohit Sharma, saying that it sent a wrong message.

India National Cricket Team had a horrendous outing on their tour to Australia. The Rohit Sharma & Co were at the receiving end of a 3-1 thrashing at the hands of the Pat Cummins-led side, who won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 10 years.

India played the first Test without their skipper Rohit Sharma in Perth

India played the first Test without their skipper Rohit Sharma in Perth as the captain missed the game due to the birth of his second child. The opening batter then joined the team in Adelaide and it turned out to be one of the worst tours of his career.

It even made Rohit Sharma drop himself from the last game in the Sydney. In the three games that he played in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, the India National Cricket Team skipper scored just 31 runs at an average of around 6, and this saw his place in the team getting questioned.

For the first two days in Australia, the team was without captain, vice-captain and coach - Sunil Gavaskar slams Rohit Sharma

Sunil Gavaskar analyzed India's poor performances in Australia, pointing out that the team should arrive in England in one group and not in four batches as it was done in Australia. He stressed that India were without their captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain for the first two days down under, which sent the wrong message. Writing in his column, he explained:

"The mistakes that were made in Australia should not be repeated. The team should arrive in England in one group and not in four batches as was done in Australia. For the first two days in Australia, the team was without captain, vice-captain and coach. What kind of a message does it send to the home team?

"That here’s a team that has arrived with no leadership group and can be easily broken with a few tough performances. Surely the BCCI will not allow this to happen again. Yes, the odd player who is recovering from injury can join the team later, but the leaders must be the first to arrive to make a statement that the team is ready for battle."

Carrying more than 16 players will indicate the selectors are unsure - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further lashed out at the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee for taking 20 players to Australia. He said that even if a team takes more than 16 players to England, it will send the wrong message that selectors are not sure. He added that they should just take along net bowlers and not players who will be given a chance. He added:

"It was understandable to some extent to have a large squad of around 20 for Australia, as it is not an easy place to reach, and the body clock does take a few days to adjust to the local time zone. This is not so much of a problem in England, but the change in weather conditions from the hot Indian summer to the cool winds in England can be tricky at the best of times.

"Still, carrying more than 16 players will indicate the selectors are unsure, and that’s never a good sign. Just because the BCCI can afford to send a large party doesn’t mean the India cap should be given just like that. The usual problem overseas is a lack of practice bowlers, so by all means take a few bowlers over, and they can be given the training and clothing, but not the India cap." concluded Sunil Gavaskar.

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