Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday rejected reports of any differences of opinion between Indian team head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma. Additionally, he also supported captain Rohit Sharma who has been struggling with poor form recently.
India’s defeat in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
India suffered a 3-1 defeat against Australia in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit Sharma played three matches in this series, but scored only 31 runs from his bat. In comparison to him, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took more wickets in this series. Rohit kept himself out in the fifth and final Test played in Sydney, so that a strong team could be fielded, but the team had to face defeat there too, as Bumrah could not bowl in the second innings.
Rajeev Shukla’s statement on speculations of differences
Amidst Rohit’s poor performance, there was speculation that there were differences between Gambhir and him. On this Rajeev Shukla said, “This is a completely wrong statement. There is no difference of opinion between the chairman of the selection committee (Ajit Agarkar) and the coach, there is no difference of opinion between the captain and the coach. This is all nonsense which is being spread in a section of the media.”
Reaction to the news of ultimatum to senior players
Some reports also said that Gambhir had given an ultimatum to the senior players to either perform well or be ready to be dropped. On this Shukla said, “It is also wrong that Rohit has insisted on captaincy. He is the captain. Being in form or not is an integral part of the game. When he (Rohit) saw that he was not in form, he ruled himself out of the fifth Test.”
Team performance review meeting
Shukla also informed that a review meeting was held recently to evaluate the performance of the team. “We discussed the way forward and ways to do better,” he said. On January 11, BCCI had a review meeting regarding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India’s 3-0 defeat against New Zealand and then the 3-1 series loss to Australia required a review of the team’s performance.
