Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar on Monday called out more "transparency and openness" in Rohit Sharma's injury that kept him out of all the three squads for India's tour of Australia that begins late November.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced all the three squads with the statement that their medical team "will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma."
Rohit incurred a hamstring injury during the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League in the UAE and hence missed Mumbai Indians' last two matches. Sending Kieron Pollard as their stand-in skipper, the franchise even put out a statement on October 23, ahead of their Chennai Super Kings game, that said: "Rohit Sharma has suffered left leg hamstring strain during Mumbai Indians' last outing. Rohit has made good progress over last four days, while the management is taking one day at a time monitoring the recovery process in consultancy with BCCI. Rohit has been advised rest for the match against CSK. Kieron Pollard will lead the team tonight."
However, following the squad announcement by the BCCI, Mumbai Indians took to social media to say that their skipper is back training again, while also releasing a video clip of his practice session.
It was then that Gavaskar called for more clarity on Rohit's injury and his subsequent absence from the Indian squads.
"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.
The Indian team are set to travel to Australia from the UAE at the end of the IPL. Head coach Ravi Shastri, his support staff, along with a few players have already entered the bio-bubble in the UAE.
