"Absolutely right" - Sunil Gavaskar hails Virat Kohli for offering to support Rohit Sharma
Sunil Gavaskar has lauded Virat Kohli for offering his support and cooperation to his white-ball captaincy successor Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.
Speaking to Sports Tak on Wednesday, the batting legend invoked the 'pride' of representing India at the highest level, saying the captain "doesn't matter". He said every cricketer thrives with his/her complete energy, asking fans to disregard media reports that claim facts by citing unnamed sources.
Gavaskar said:
"This is absolutely right. When you play for the Indian team, you dedicate your body and mind to it and thrive for its success. It doesn't matter who is or isn't the captain because you get pride in your own performance and helping the team win... There's no two ways about the fact that whoever plays for the Indian team, does it with all his/her energy. Yes, this is a sport, you can't always be successful. That's why even yesterday I said that don't believe these reports via these sources. Ask the players themselves."
Virat Kohli lauds Rohit Sharma's captaincy skills and assures that he will always contribute to the team's vision 🙌
#India #TeamIndia https://t.co/bRIVrhJsTv
Kohli hailed Rohit as a "tactically sound" captain and Dravid as a "great man-manager," thus debunking the conjectures of any rifts inside the team. A couple of media houses also said that Kohli might take a break from Rohit's first series as ODI captain in South Africa, but the Indian red-ball skipper brushed those reports aside too.
"This has been the problem with Indian cricket for years" - Sunil Gavaskar
💬 💬 @ImRo45 and Rahul Dravid have my absolute support: @imVkohli
#TeamIndia #SAvIND https://t.co/jXUwZ5W1Dz
Gavaskar, a victim of captaincy-related controversies himself, lamented the gossip-mongering in Indian cricket whenever there are two abled leaders available. He wants everyone who plays or follows Indian cricket to stay away from off-field issues and focus on taking the sport forward.
Gavaskar added:
"This has been the problem with Indian cricket for years. Whenever there are two players with a bit of up-down regarding captaincy, one captain here and the other there, then the rumors that spread here... I am not saying that media does it but it happens a lot via social media and public media. These rumors that fly out have now been proven as fake news. This is all wrong because all of us need to take Indian cricket forward, whether we are playing or not. What do you get from these rumors?"
While Kohli will be back in action on November 26, taking on the Proteas in Centurion, Rohit is injured and his comeback date is yet to be ascertained.
Also Read: "It's not like Virat Kohli found it out through the media; what more do you want?" - Sunil Gavaskar defends BCCI