The former World Cup-winning all-rounder of India, Yuvraj Singh, has praised the head coach of the national side, Gautam Gambhir, and the captain, Rohit Sharma, for doing well in the future events with their leadership skills despite their embarrassing defeat by a 3-1 margin in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.
India lost their maiden Test series against Australia since the 2014/15 season, which led them to get disqualified for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2024-25 at Lord’s for the very first time in the competition’s history. The blue brigade hasn’t enjoyed a great time in the last four months.
The Rohit-led side lost their home Test series against New Zealand, which is now their first whitewash at home by a margin of 0-3. Gautam Gambhir, as a result, has come under tremendous pressure after they lost the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka. The form of the batters and the odd strategies have raised questions over the coaching department.
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India’s regular Test captain missed the first of the five Tests down under at the Optus Stadium in Perth due to the birth of his second child, as the tourists, under the leadership of Jasprit Bumrah, started with a 295-run victory. The 161-rum opening stand between KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal pushed Rohit into the middle order for the second and third fixture.
Yuvraj Singh backs Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma to do well for India in future events
But the Nagpur-born struggled in both clashes before getting promoted to the opening position for the fourth Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). With 31 runs in five innings at an average of 6.20, the right-handed batter decided to opt out for the final game of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Yuvraj Singh expressed his support for the Mumbai batter’s captaincy, shedding light on the requirement to evaluate his overall performance rather than focusing on the recent series defeats. He also pointed out the T20 World Cup 2024 victory for the national side in the West Indies and the United States of America, besides five trophies with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Gautam Gambhir needs to be given more time as he has just come into the system. Rohit won the T20 World Cup, and he was the captain when India reached the World Cup (ODI) final. Mumbai Indians won 5 IPLs under Rohit’s captaincy.” Yuvraj expressed this to the reporters during the recent event.
“He stepped down in the last Test (of BGT) to give someone else the chance, how many captains have done that in the past? I look at what he has done in the last 3-5 years, one tournament can’t decide. For me, the series defeat at home was more disappointing as India losing 3-0 against New Zealand was tougher.” The former southpaw cracked.
Under Rohit, India went through a 10-match winning streak in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home before they lost the final to Australia. Even in the 20-over event, they didn’t lose a single encounter. It was a great start for him in 2024 in the longest format with the bat, celebrating two centuries against England.
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But the second half of 2024 has been struggling, as he faced challenges with just 164 runs in 15 innings at an average of 10.93 and one half-century. They lost six Tests, four at home, in the 2024 calendar year, which is the biggest decline for him in the leadership department.
Yuvraj Singh reckoned that India and their management should consider the leadership skills and overall contribution of the batter rather than judging him only on a few tournaments or series.