"I disagree with Sunny on that totally"- Aaron Finch on Sunil Gavaskar's Team India captaincy remarks for 2024-25 BGT
Former Australian captain Aaron Finch disagreed with Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar on his remarks that India should replace Rohit Sharma with another captain for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series should Rohit miss the first or the first two Tests. It has been widely reported that Rohit will likely miss the opening Test, if not the first two, due to personal reasons.
However, Gavaskar disagreed with the notion of the skipper missing the start of the series and taking over upon return. Instead, he felt the vice-captain (Jasprit Bumrah) should be handed over the reins for the entire series in that case to ensure continuity.
When asked about Gavaskar's comments, Finch said on the Around the Wicket Podcast [24:10]:
"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's going to have a baby… that's such a beautiful moment… and you take all the time that you need in that regard."
Rohit is coming off becoming the first Indian captain to be whitewashed in a home Test series with three matches or more against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, India will play Australia in a highly anticipated five-Test series down under, starting November 22.
"They've played so much cricket without a break but it'll be a little kick up the backside for them" - Michael Clarke
Another former Australian captain Michael Clarke felt the Indian players were mentally fatigued during the recent home Test series against New Zealand, resulting in the shocking 0-3 defeat.
It was India's first home Test series loss since 2012/13 and broke a streak of 18 consecutive Test series wins at home.
Speaking on the same podcast, Clarke said [23:00]:
"Take nothing away from New Zealand but It tells me India are so fatigued. Some of their shot selection, the use of bowlers and even Rohit to come out and say he wasn't at his best - just Think it was mental fatigue. They've played so much cricket without a break but it'll be a little kick up the backside for them."
He added:
"They know they've played well out here in Australia and they'll still come here with plenty of talent and that self-belief, but hopefully fresh. That's the key for the Indian players. Virat Kohli - you can't be that good for such a long period of time and just turn the tap off. So once he freshens up, and Rohit Sharma the same, you'll see the best of them."
The New Zealand series defeat also crushed India's hopes of qualifying for a third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final.
They will have to beat Australia by a margin of 4-0 or better to control their WTC final destiny without depending on other teams' results.