Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar feels India will do well in absence of Kohli. He says that there has been a lot of talks around this but the former captain says there is no need to worry about it.
Kohli is currently in Australia preparing for the limited overs series which will be starting from 27th November. After the limited overs series, the test series will begin from 17th December. Kohli will play the first test test which will be a Day/Night Test set to be played in Adelaide. Kohli will leave for India after the first test, as he is expecting a child and will be on his paternity leave. After the news of Kohli’s leave was confirmed there have been lot of talks around this news and everyone is counting India as a comparatively weaker team.
But Sunil Gavaskar feels that Kohli’s absence won’t affect team India as they have proved in the past that the team tends to perform better in absence of Kohli. He said that the has proved themselves in the Dharamshala test, the Nidahas trophy, the Asia cup in 2018 and the Afghanistan test.
He added that Rahane will have a sense of security and will bat more responsibly as he will have everything under his control. He has a captaincy mind and has proved himself in the previous Australian tour as well. He and Pujara will play a key role in this series and no one should asks them to bat in certain way. Pujara doesn’t need to bat more aggresively in Kohli’s absence, as long as he is scoring runs and getting hundreds for the team he should play his natural game said the former India player
Rohit Sharma will join the team for the test series starting 17th December. His addition to the team will help Rahane as Rohit has evolved in his captaincy skills for India as limited overs captain for few series and in the IPL as well for Mumbai Indians. When asked about spilt captaincy for India, Gavaskar said that this discussion is not necessary right now. The priority right now is to win in Australia. This is a topic for future discussion.
While talking about the problems in the team right now, Gavaskar feels that the team lacks consistency in the playing 11. He added that a player can’t play his natural game if his spot in the team is in question. A team needs to back its players for a longer period of time. A balance needs to be maintained within the team. He gave R Ashwin’s example and said that he is great player to have in the team. His bowling ability makes him go to man at any point for taking wickets. Along with his bowling, he can offer batting at lower order for the team. With almost 400 wickets in the test cricket he should be in the playing 11 of most of the teams.
