'Indian cricket fan deserves to know more' - Sunil Gavaskar calls for transparency on Rohit Sharma's injury

With confusion surrounding Rohit Sharma’s fitness, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has called out for more transparency on it. Rohit’s name was missing from all the three squads for the tour of Australia which gets underway next month. Giving an update on Rohit and injured Ishant Sharma, the board stated that its medical team would continue to monitor the duo.

But just an hour after the BCCI announced the three squads, Mumbai Indians announced that Rohit has started training in the nets. The franchise also posted photos of Rohit’s training session, leaving everyone surprised. Rohit has been sidelined since the Super Over loss to Kings XI Punjab on October 18.

Later on October 23 before the clash against Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians put out a statement that said, “Rohit Sharma has suffered left leg hamstring strain during Mumbai Indians’ last outing. Rohit has made good progress over last four days, while the management is taking one day at a time monitoring the recovery process in consultancy with BCCI. Rohit has been advised rest for the match against CSK. Kieron Pollard will lead the team tonight.”

At that time, it looked like the hamstring injury was not at all serious and Rohit would return to action soon. However, the BCCI, on Monday, dropped a huge surprise by not naming the premier batsman in any of the three squads.

Sunil Gavaskar’s reaction

Soon after Mumbai Indians’ announced that their skipper is back in training, Sunil Gavaskar called for more clarity on the batsman’s injury. Speaking on Star Sports, the former cricketer-turned-commentator expressed his surprise over the turn of events while also saying that the Indian cricket fraternity deserves to know more about Rohit’s injury.

“I don’t know, I’m not on any of these public media but I was shown something about him practicing at the nets for Mumbai Indians. So I don’t know what kind of injury it is. Because if the injury was serious he wouldn’t even be padded up.”

“So we’re talking about a tour that starts at the end of November for T20s and one-dayers but the Test matches start around 17th of December which is a month and a half away. And if he’s practicing in the nets for Mumbai Indians then honestly don’t know what kind of injury it is,” said Sunil Gavaskar.

“And I think a little bit of transparency, a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody. Because the Indian cricket fan deserves to know more than anything else. The franchises I understand, they don’t want to give their hand away because they’re trying to win the game, they don’t want to give the opposition any psychological advantage but we’re talking about an Indian team. Even Mayank Agarwal for example, Mayank Agarwal has not been playing… I think for the Indian cricket fan… they ought to know what is happening to two of their key players,” he added.

Team India will leave for Australia from UAE after the ongoing IPL ends on November 10. Virat Kohli & Co. are scheduled to play three ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests in Australia. India will be looking to put up a similar performance that had seen them win the historic Test series during the 2018/19 tour.