'Ensuring they weren't stripped...': Sunil Gavaskar questions Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer's intentions after Ranji loss

Sunil Gavaskar, the former captain of India, recently expressed his dissatisfaction with Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer's performances in Mumbai's most recent Ranji Trophy group encounter against Jammu and Kashmir at the MCA Ground in Mumbai. In their individual innings, Iyer scored 11 and 17, while Rohit scored 3 and 28.

Gavaskar attacked Rohit and Iyer's lack of intention against the bowlers from Jammu and Kashmir on a ground with some movement in his Sportstar column. The skipper of India appeared to be out of form and ill-prepared for the demands of a long innings, he said. Gavaskar also pointed out that when top-order batsmen attempt to play aggressive strokes, they frequently lose their wickets.

Gavaskar emphasized the necessity for a balance between caution and aggression in red-ball cricket, even as he praised the outstanding performances of Mumbai's sole standout batters, Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian. Kotian, who just got called up for the first time for India's tour of Australia, added a half-century in the second innings, while Thakur struck fifty and 119.

"The dismissal of Mumbai’s Test batters once again brought to the fore the perils of the all-out aggressive mode of batting that is nowadays thought of as being central to run-making. It can work on flat pitches, but on pitches where the ball is doing something, there has to be a technique good enough to keep out the good delivery," he wrote.

Gavaskar also expressed his displeasure with Indian batters' aggressive batting approach in Test cricket, specifically citing the team's recent loss to Australia in the Sydney Test.

"There are more chances of a dismissal while looking to play in a manner that one is not used to, as was seen in the recent Sydney Test [between India and Australia] when rushes of blood caused some silly-looking dismissals. A bit of common sense and patience, rather than a fatalistic approach, could have gotten another 50 runs, and that could well have altered the result of the match and the series," he added.

The Indian batting legend expressed worries about whether Rohit and Iyer made themselves available solely in reaction to the BCCI's recent directive. This directive highlights the necessity of prioritizing domestic cricket to stay competitive for selection in the Indian team. It is part of a new set of 10 guidelines for contracted players following India's underwhelming performance during the tour of Australia.

"Whether their hearts were in it or they did that only to ensure they were not stripped of their BCCI contracts, like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were, after missing out on the Ranji Trophy games last year, is known only to them. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s participation meant that Ayush Mhatre, who had got a couple of hundreds and some fifties, had to be left out of the Mumbai side. Hopefully, the youngster would have spent some time with both these players and picked their brains about adding to his batting ability," he said.

Also read| Virat Kohli declines Delhi captaincy on Ranji Trophy return, wants THIS 25-year-old Lucknow Super Giants star to lead