'You shouldn't be happy' - Sunil Gavaskar destroys Gautam Gambhir for blindly defending Rohit Sharma

The India National Cricket Team batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has rejected head coach Gautam Gambhir's defense of captain Rohit Sharma's approach with the bat in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Sunil Gavaskar said that Rohit Sharma shouldn't be happy scoring 25-30 runs for Team India and he should look to bat deep, which would be more impactful.

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Rohit Sharma yet to fire in ICC Champions Trophy 2025

The Indian skipper has not yet fired with the bat in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He has continued his ultra-aggressive approach with the bat with an aim to provide his team with flying starts, but this has resulted in his failure to score big runs.

So far, the highest score of Rohit Sharma in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 has been 41, which came against Bangladesh in India's tournament opener.

In three other matches against Pakistan, New Zealand, and Australia, he registered scores of 20, 15, and 28. Rohit Sharma has received heavy criticism from the cricketing fraternity for not converting his starts into big scores.

However, head coach Gautam Gambhir jumped in Rohit Sharma's defense, saying that they judge the batter by the impact that he makes on the team and not by the numbers.

He bats for even 25 overs, India will be around 180-200 - Sunil Gavaskar

Meanwhile, in an interaction with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar said that Rohit Sharma's attacking brand of cricket hasn't brought him immense success and dropping it could be more beneficial.

"This is an approach he has been following for the last two years or so. It started around the World Cup in India, and he has been sticking to that formula. He has had some success, though perhaps not as much as his talent should warrant. He is an incredibly talented player with a range of shots that not many others in the game possess," Gavaskar said.

"Therefore, from an aesthetic point of view, from a crowd-pleasing perspective, I am not speaking from the team's point of view. He bats for even 25 overs, India will be around 180-200. Imagine if they have lost only a couple of wickets by then; just think what they could do-they could reach 350 or more."

Are you happy with scoring 25-30 runs? - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further said that Rohit Sharma shouldn't be satisfied with a 25-30 runs knock, and he should bat deep in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final to take the game away from the opposition team.

"He also needs to give it some thought. It's one thing to go out and play aggressively, but there has to be a bit of discretion somewhere to give himself the chance to bat for 25-30 overs. If he does that, he takes the game away from the opposition," Gavaskar added.

"That kind of impact is match-winning. And I think, as a batter, are you happy with scoring 25-30 runs? You shouldn't be! So that is what I would say to him: your impact on the team will be even greater if you bat for 25 overs instead of just seven, eight, or nine overs."