‘The head coach should have updated Virat Kohli on that front' – Gautam Gambhir on Rohit Sharma’s injury conundrum

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir reckons that head coach Ravi Shastri should have kept Virat Kohli on the loop regarding Rohit Sharma’s injury status. Ever since Rohit sustained a hamstring injury during the 2020 Indian Premier League, his participation in the Australia tour became uncertain. To start with, he was excluded from all the three squads.

However later, he was included in the Test squad. Nevertheless, later it was learned that he has been ruled out of the first two Tests. During the press conference prior to the first ODI at the SCG, Virat said that he didn’t have much clue about the developments surrounding Rohit.

Apart from Shastri, Gambhir also said the chairman of selectors and the team physio should have informed Virat about Rohit. The southpaw reckoned that there wasn’t proper co-ordination between the players and team management.

Rohit Sharma is an important player, says Gambhir

“It’s very unfortunate, because…. he’s the captain…..Virat Kohli….see again, he went into the press conference, he’s told the media that he had no clue about the update. Probably, the three most important people in this entire scenario are, the head physio, your head coach and your chairman selector,” Gambhir was quoted as saying on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.

“So, all these people should’ve been on the same page and your head coach should’ve actually updated Virat Kohli on that front as to what’s the update on Rohit Sharma. You’re going into the press conference and saying that he had no clue about the injury or the update on Rohit Sharma’s injury, which is very, very unfortunate,” he stated.

“Somewhere down the line, he’s an important player and at the same time, there could’ve been a much better communication and coordination, which was lacking somewhere,” Gambhir added.

Rohit is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. He is there along with Ishant Sharma, who has been ruled out of the Test series after missing a chunk of the IPL.

India have felt Rohit’s absence as they lost their three-match ODI series against Australia. After losing the first two games at the SCG, they conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead to the opposition.