The staunchest critics of the game of cricket and legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, in a try to avoid coming into headlines has given another controversial statement. After being asked how Ajinkya Rahane has been captaining, Gavaskar stated that he didn’t want to praise him because otherwise, people from their perspective that he favours Mumbaikars.
During the first day of the second Test match against Australia, India lost the toss in MCG, which would have costed them. Australian captain Tim Paine put India to field first and was set to give the visitors a big total. But Rahane turned the table with his captaincy as the host were bundled out for 195 runs with one hour of play still left to play. He introduced Ravichandran Ashwin early to the attack with Bumrah from the other side. Both bowled tight spells to put Aussies under pressure.
In Sony Sports, the renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle asked Sunil Gavaskar on what is his opinion on Rahane’s captaincy.
The former cricketer was quick to avoid giving a brutal statement while said that if he showed any favouritism, he will be accused of backing Mumbai players.
“Importantly, let’s not jump into conclusions too quickly. If I say that his captaincy is outstanding, then again, I will be accused of backing a Mumbai boy and all kinds of things will happen. So I don’t want to get into that because these are early days,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
It’s important for India to look beyond the fact that it’s only Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy: Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar, however, gave a brief analysis of Rahane’s captaincy in past matches and stated that he has good knowledge of where the fielders showed be placed. But he also stated that if bowlers perform well, every captain looks good.
“From what I have seen in the last 2 Tests he captained and the one-day matches he captained, he has got a great sense of where the fielders should be kept. Having said that, it’s very important for the bowlers to bowl to their field. If the bowlers bowl to the field, as they did today, then the captain looks very good,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Sony Networks.
“It’s important for India to look beyond the fact that it’s only Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy. It’s the way Ashwin bowled, it’s the way Bumrah bowled, it’s the way Siraj made his debut. I mean imagine, being a new-ball bowlers, and you don’t get to bowl a single delivery before the second session. Only in the second session, you get to bowl in the 27th over but he showed great spirit in the way he came and bowled.”
Sunil Gavaskar observed that Indian bowlers were too good for Australians on the first day but had they not got them bowled early, their body language would have been down.
“These are the things we should enjoy. It tells you a lot about this Indian team that they were at the Australians and they got the early wicket. If they hadn’t got the early wicket if Australia had gotten to a 60 or 70 for 0 kind of start, then their body language might have been different,” Sunil Gavaskar added.
Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah picked three and four wickets respectively while the debutant Mohammed Siraj picked two wickets. Ravindra Jadeja also got one wicket.