Team India’s highly-anticipated Test tour of Australia is all set to get underway on November 22 in Perth. In their last two tours, they had performed exceptionally well to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.
However, the team find itself in a precarious position this time around after losing 0-3 to New Zealand at home. Several reports are also claiming that India skipper Rohit Sharma might miss out on the opening Test due to personal reasons and it’s uncertain whether he will join the camp for the second Test in Adelaide.
Reacting to those reports, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar recently said that if the regular captain is not there right from the beginning, he should play the rest of the games as a mere player while his deputy should lead the team for the entire series.
"We have been reading that Rohit Sharma will not play in the first Test, perhaps he will not play in the second as well. If this is the case, then I say that, right now, the Indian selection committee should say that 'if you have to rest, rest, if there are personal reasons then look at them. But if you are missing two-thirds of the matches then you should go for this tour only as a player. We will make the vice-captain the captain of this tour'," Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
"Indian cricket is the most important. I would say that if we had won the New Zealand series 3-0, it would have been a different matter. Because we have lost this series 3-0, there is a need for a captain. The captain has to unite the team. If there is no captain in the beginning, it is better to make someone else the captain," he further added.
However, former Australia captain Aaron Finch completely disagreed with Gavaskar’s thoughts of replacing Rohit Sharma as captain. He opined that if Rohit needs to miss a few games due to the birth of his child, he can take all the time he wants to cherish that moment.
However, former Australia skipper Aaron Finch opposed Gavaskar's views. "I disagree with Sunny on that totally. Rohit Sharma is the captain of the Indian cricket team. If you need to stay at home because your wife is having a baby... that's such a beautiful moment... and you take all the time that you need in that regard," Finch said while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.
Now, Rohit Sharma's wife Ritika Sajdeh has appreciated Aaron Finch's views on this subject. She reacted with a 'salute' emoji tagging Finch on an Instagram post highlighting both statements.
Addressing the media after India’s 25-run loss in the Mumbai Test against New Zealand last week, Rohit had indicated that he is unsure of his "availability" for the Perth Test.
"Right now, I am not too sure whether I'll be going, but let's see. Fingers crossed," Rohit had told reports.
The Indian captain has come under severe criticism after his team’s embarrassing whitewash at the hands of New Zealand on home soil. He managed to amass only 91 runs in the three-match series at an abysmal average of 15.17.
Rohit will be keen to turn things around in the five-match Test series against Australia, where India need at least four wins to qualify for the World Test Championship final without depending on other teams' results.
