India legend delivers ‘no-nonsense’ verdict on Rohit Sharma’s track record as India captain

India legend Sunil Gavaskar is known for not mincing his words. He recently opened up on Rohit Shamra’s record as the captain of the national team. He was quick to comment saying the Hitman would be judged by the number of trophies won. India’s inability to win a major trophy in the last 10 years has been a thorn in their side.

Virat Kohli was a great captain who led them to many important wins. However, his inability to lead them to a major title draws down his captaincy stint. The same could be the case for Rohit if he fails to win the upcoming tournaments – the Asia Cup 2023 and the ODI World Cup 2023. “At the end of the day, you are judged by the number of trophies you have won, the number of wins you have. Winning these two tournaments will make him one of India’s greatest skippers,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

‘If you look at our situation, we [ India ] had ill luck just about every time’ – Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar also opened up on India’s issues in the middle-order, especially with the number four role. He thinks the issue could be solved if the team was enriched with high-performing allrounders. “More than anything else, luck of the day is very important and if you look at the teams (in 1983, 1985, and 2011), they all had top-class all-rounders,” said Gavaskar.

“You had batters who could bowl 7-8-9 overs and bowlers who could bat down the order. That was the biggest plus of those teams. You see MSD’s India team also: Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag could all bowl. It was the biggest plus. So, any team that has all-rounders (will hold the edge). You look at England who won last year’s T20 World Cup, look at the all-rounders they had. So, all-rounders are the key element,” concluded the 1983 World Cup winner.

The former India opener also feels that sometimes a little luck is also very important. “We have got immense talent, (but) in the knockout stage you need a little bit of luck on the day. If you look at our situation in the knockout stages where we lost, we had ill luck just about every time. At the last World Cup (2019) we had a match (semifinal versus New Zealand) which stretched into the second day. If it had gone the proper full day we might have had a different story, because the next day it was seaming conditions and the New Zealand bowlers could bowl well. So, I think you need a little bit of luck on the day. I mean there are four-five very good teams, so you need luck on the day.”