"There was no surprise there" - Sunil Gavaskar on Rohit Sharma being named India Test captain
Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar feels that Rohit Sharma is among the few players who are sure picks in all three formats and hence his appointment as India's Test captain today is no surprise.
Rohit was named the Test skipper as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Chetan Sharma announced the squad for the T20 International (T20I) and Test series against Sri Lanka at home.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named @ImRo45 as #TeamIndia's Test Captain. https://t.co/GaIUZDthtf
Speaking to Sports Tak, Gavaskar said:
"The guy who is a certainty in all three formats – when the selection committee sits down and think of who are the certainties, then Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s names will come up. And between them, Kohli is not doing captaincy, so it had to be Rohit Sharma. There was no surprise there."
Speaking about what he feels about Sharma's captaincy so far in the limited-overs formats, Gavaskar highlighted that the players seem to have clarity in terms of their roles in the team. He said:
"The way he has handled the team. The way players are getting clarity. I won’t say there wasn’t clarity earlier. That would be wrong to say as I was not in the dressing room, so I don’t know. But from the way he speaks, it seems like the players know their roles. And they know what the team expects from them and what the captain expects from them."
"If he is completely fit, no one else can be the captain" - Sunil Gavaskar on skipper Rohit Sharma
After Virat Kohli stepped down from Test captaincy following the tour of South Africa, there was a lot of speculation about would take over in the longest format of the game.
Sharma was always the frontrunner for the skipper role. However, his fitness issues cast doubts on whether he would be picked as captain across all formats, with the likes of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant popping up as potential options.
Sunil Gavaskar himself had said that Pant would be a good option for Test captaincy. However, Gavaskar explained that the wicketkeeper-batter's name had only come up because there was a lack of clarity on Sharma's fitness. He said:
"Rishabh Pant’s name had come up because we didn’t know about Rohit Sharma’s fitness. But if he is completely fit, no one else can be the captain for all three formats. It was the correct decision."
Test Captain.🗣️🗣️ "We will groom future captains under him."
The Chairman of the All-India Senior Selection Committee, Mr. Chetan Sharma, spoke about @ImRo45 being named the #TeamIndia 🇮🇳 Test Captain. https://t.co/SPaJvFMVEO
The two-match Test series against Sri Lanka will begin on March 4.