Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has seemingly taken a veiled dig at Gautam Gambhir and the current Indian team setup over Rohit Sharma’s absence in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) earlier this year. In a candid conversation on The ICC Review, the former India head coach expressed his disappointment at Rohit sitting out the Sydney Test, insisting that if he were still in charge, Rohit would have played.
The comments came just days after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket, following a poor series in Australia that ended with India losing the series 3-1 and missing out on an ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final spot. Rohit opted out of the decisive SCG Test, a decision that raised eyebrows for some and made sense for others.
What did Ravi Shastri say to Rohit Sharma?
Shastri revealed that he had a brief exchange with Rohit during the IPL, where he conveyed his thoughts directly.
“I saw Rohit a lot at the toss. At the toss, you don’t get enough time to speak. Though I did put my hand on his shoulder in one of the games.”
“I think it was in Mumbai, and I told him, if I were the coach, you would have never not played that last Test match. You would have played that last Test match because the series wasn’t over,” Shastri divulged.
“Rohit’s a match-winner”
Rohit had a tough outing in Australia, scoring just 31 runs in three Tests after missing the first due to personal reasons. Across his last eight Tests, including home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, the 38-year-old managed only one score above fifty and averaged 10.93.
Yet, Shastri believed Rohit’s experience and ability to deliver in crunch moments made him invaluable, especially on a tricky Sydney pitch. It was indeed one of the toughest wickets to bat on, with the average run per wicket in that Test match being just over 20 runs.
“I’m not someone who threw in the towel with the scoreline 2-1. If your mindset is you feel you are… that’s not the stage, you leave a team.” That was a 30-40 run game. And that’s exactly what I told him. The pitch was so spicy in Sydney. Whatever kind of form he was in, he’s a match-winner,” said Shastri.
“If he had gone, sensed the situation, sensed the condition and smashed it for even 35-40 at the top, you never know. That series would have been level. But that’s each one to his own. Other people have different styles. This would have been my style, and I let him know it. It’s been sitting in my heart for a long time. I had to get it out. And I told him that.”
Though he didn’t name Gambhir directly, the reference to leadership style and letting a player of Rohit’s stature sit out a crucial game was hard to ignore. Rohit had the backing from the entire Indian coaching staff, headed by Gambhir. Unfortunately, Rohit’s absence didn’t prove to be a massive upside as the visitors lost the match by six wickets.
The post Ravi Shastri takes a veiled dig at Gautam Gambhir; wouldn’t have let Rohit Sharma drop himself at BGT appeared first on Inside Sport India.