‘Rohit’s return to cause ‘disruption’ in Indian camp’ – Ponting echoes Gavaskar’s remarks on BGT captaincy

Former Australia captain and Test great Ricky Ponting feels Rohit Sharma’s return to the Indian side could potentially disrupt the Indian camp, echoing Sunil Gavaskar’s remarks on why India should have just one captain throughout the series. Rohit remained unavailable for the Perth Test for personal reasons, with the BCCI naming ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah the captain for the BGT opener at the Optus Stadium.

Rohit, however, has informed the Indian Cricket Board about his travel schedule, with a report in Cricbuzz claiming that the Indian skipper will link up with the squad in Perth during the first Test on November 24 (Sunday). He will be available for selection for the second game in Adelaide, a Day/Night Test, starting December 6, and will play the pink-ball warm-up tie in Canberra in the leadup to the second game.

ALSO READ:BGT: Ganguly not ready to discount India despite Aussie wave; reminds Vaughan, Gilchrist of 2020/21 results

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Meanwhile, following Gavaskar’s comments on why Bumrah should lead India in all matches regardless of Rohit’s travel stance and availability status for all games, which irked plenty of fans, including Rohit’s wife, Ritika Sajdeh, who gave a telling reaction to the India great, uttered same sentiments, saying his addition to the side and in the leadership group will cause some confusion among the group.

Ponting said the players knew about Rohit’s stance before and that Bumrah would lead India in Perth, adding, “I just think there’s potential for more disruption through their campaign with Sharma coming back and whatever else. So I’ll stick with it (3-1 verdict in favour of Australia).”

“India will be pretty certain of what team they’re going to play (in Perth). They’ve known for a while that Rohit probably wasn’t going to be here. They’ve probably known for a while that Bumrah was going to be captain. So they’ve probably known what holes they’ve needed to fill. So they’ll be reasonably settled,” Ponting said on The ICC Review ahead of the first Test in Perth starting Friday (Nov 22).

Gavaskar’s remarks

During a chat with Sports Tak earlier, Gavaskar explained why India must have just captain throughout the marquee series.

“Captain should play the opening Test. It would have been different had he been injured. But if a captain is not available right in the first Test match of the series, then it would put a lot of pressure on the deputy leader and that is not easy.

“There should be clarity because we lost 0-3 against New Zealand, so the captain has to be there. Indian cricket is the most important thing. Had India won the New Zealand series 3-0, it would have been a different case.” Gavaskar said.

Meanwhile, India could play two debutants in Perth, with several reports suggesting that Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana are likely to play the series opener.

(With inputs from agencies)