India's legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar reckoned that the think tank is responsible for Rohit Sharma-led side's tactical blunder in the recently concluded three Test match series where BlackCaps defeated them 3-0 to whitewash the series. This was India's first home Test whitewash since South Africa's 2-0 victory in the 1999-2000 season. This marks the first time India has been swept 0-3 in a home series.
In the exclusive conversation with IndiaToday, Sunil Gavaskar believes that the responsibility for tactical mistakes should be shared collectively rather than blaming any individual leader within the leadership group.
"Well, I think every team has a think tank. Probably the captain, vice-captain and the coach -- these are the guys who take the decisions. That's how it goes. Sometimes, the captain makes snap decisions at the last moment. May be, he will decide to promote someone to bat higher up the order. If it works out, it becomes a great decision. If it doesn't work out, it looks bad. I think these decisions would have been taken by the think tank," said Gavaskar.
India made a lot of bad decisions during the Test series against New Zealand. Sending pacer Mohammed Siraj as night-watchman on the second evening of the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai and Sarfaraz Khan at No.8 in the first innings are some of the tactical moves that are being questioned by everyone.
Team India are scheduled to play five Test match series against Australia which will start from November 22. The Men in Blue will look to win that series 4-0 to seal their berth in the final of World Test Championship Final.
India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-2025
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Travelling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
The Schedule
First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium
Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval (D/N)
Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne
Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney.
