The Indian cricket team had a tough time, both on and off the field, during the recently held Test tour of Australia. Designated captain Rohit Sharma didn’t feature in the fifth and final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
All sorts of speculations emerged amidst Rohit’s absence from the playing XI. Ahead of the Sydney Test, The Indian Express reported that a senior player is projecting himself as an interim captain.
The report further stated that the senior player wants to be the interim captain and is portraying himself as "Mr Fix-it".
Subsequently, former India opener Robin Uthappa posted a video on Instagram, slamming the unnamed cricketer for taking a selfish stand.
In an interview with Lallantop, Uthappa broke his silence on the rant and shared his thoughts on the matter.
“I am the kind of person, if something is going on, I directly mention it. In the team, I know people individually. But when a tour is going on, a tournament is going on, I don't talk to any of them because every player has his own routine and mindset. At that point, it doesn't feel right to enter into their space. So I don't talk to anyone during a tournament, nor do I message anyone, even if they play good or bad. If they are playing bad, then I do drop a message to motivate them. If they have done well, made some records, then I congratulate them. But besides that I don't interact. But in this, I don't know who is Mr Fix-it. But if he has come out…,” Uthappa said.
“People say it is speculation. For me, in the Indian team, there is no smoke without fire,” he added.
Uthappa further addressed the issue and went on to mention a couple of names. “It could be KL Rahul, Virat Kohli. We think Rahul is not senior, he has been in the side for the last eight-nine years,” he remarked.
“In that sense, it is speculative. But there is another side to this also. But for me what do I care about, the Indian team being perceived right. Especially during the course of an important series. This is the most important series and during that, even if that happens, keep it inside, why take it outside. Families have differences at any point in time,” he concluded.
In Rohit’s absence, Jasprit Bumrah led India in the Sydney Test. However, the Indian pace spearhead suffered a back spasm midway through the match, which led to Virat Kohli taking over the leadership duties.
The change in captaincy didn’t produce a positive result as the visitors lost at SCG by six wickets to concede the BGT 1-3 for the first time since 2014-15.
