Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer failed for Mumbai in their loss to J&K in Ranji Trophy encounter.
Legendary India and Mumbai captain Sunil Gavaskar slammed Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer and questioned their intentions during Mumbai’s recent 5-wicket loss to J&K in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 tournament.
Rohit scored 3 and 28 during Mumbai's five-wicket loss, while Iyer managed 11 and 17 in the two innings.
Gavaskar was dissatisfied with Rohit and Iyer's charge against the Jammu and Kashmir attack on a track with a hint of movement. The Indian skipper appeared out of form, unstable, and unprepared to work hard for long periods. It was not just him. Iyer and most of the top-order hitters perished while attempting to attack the bowling.
Gavaskar praised Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian, Mumbai's sole noteworthy batsmen in that forgettable match, and emphasized the importance of balancing caution and aggression in red-ball cricket.
"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 in his column for Sportstar.
Gavaskar was also critical of India's aggressive batting approach in Test cricket, citing their recent loss to Australia in Sydney.
"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.
Gavaskar even doubted the intentions of the two Mumbai batters, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer. He wondered if Rohit and Iyer only made themselves available following the BCCI's new mandate, which once again asked Indian regulars to concentrate on domestic cricket to be eligible for selection into the Indian side.
"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," he said.
Gavaskar admitted that he awaits the participation of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in the Ranji Trophy.
"It would be interesting to see if KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Virat Kohli, who didn’t play in last week’s round of Ranji Trophy matches, will play the next round," he added.
(Sportstar inputs)