Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has called out for more “transparency and openness” regarding Rohit Sharma’s injury after the opening batsman was pictured training with Mumbai Indians (MI) on the night he was not named in any of the three squads to tour Australia later this year.
India’s limited-overs vice-captain was on Monday left out of all three squads for the tour of Australia due to a hamstring injury, which raised question marks over his participation in the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well.
“The BCCI Medical Team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma,” the board’s secretary Jay Shah said in a press release announcing the squads.
But soon after the announcement was made, MI shared a post mentioning that their captain was training once again.
Just what we love to see! Hitman in action at today’s training 😍#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #Dream11IPL @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/FBYIyhtcOW
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 26, 2020
4️⃣5️⃣ seconds of RO 4️⃣5️⃣ in full flow!🔥#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #Dream11IPL @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/65ajVQcEKc
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 26, 2020
Gavaskar said he has seen pictures of Rohit practising with MI again and that raises a question mark over his exclusion, especially from the Test match-squad.
“I don’t know, I’m not on any of these public media, but I was shown something about him practicing at the nets for Mumbai Indians. So I don’t know what kind of injury it is. Because if the injury was serious, he wouldn’t even be padded up. So we’re talking about a tour that starts at the end of November for T20s and one-dayers, but the Test matches start around 17th of December which is a month and a half away. And if he’s practicing in the nets for Mumbai Indians then honestly don’t know what kind of injury it is.
“And I think a little bit of transparency, a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody. Because the Indian cricket fan deserves to know more than anything else. The franchises I understand, they don’t want to give their hand away because they’re trying to win the game, they don’t want to give the opposition any psychological advantage but we’re talking about an Indian team. Even Mayank Agarwal for example, Mayank Agarwal has not been playing… I think for the Indian cricket fan… they ought to know what is happening to two of their key players,” said Gavaskar while speaking on Star Sports.
India tour of Australia 2020-21 comprises three T20 Internationals, as many ODIs and four Tests. It is set to get underway from November 27.
