There will be some retirements: Sunil Gavaskar predicts after India’s defeat against England
After India’s excruciating defeat against England in the semifinals of T20 World Cup 2022, Sunil Gavaskar has come out guns blazing on the Indian team.
India suffered one of the biggest defeats in the history of T20 World Cup. They were ousted by England’s team by chasing the total of 169 runs without losing a single wicket.
Both the openers, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales carried their bat through the inning and won the game for England with 10 wickets and 4 overs to spare.
This puts a lot of Indian players and their performance under question. And according to Sunil Gavaskar this match will be a turning point for a lot of cricketers.
The former Indian captain has a strong opinion that some of the senior players might consider retirement post this tournament.
Sunil Gavaskar makes sharp remarks on senior Indian cricketers
Gavaskar told the broadcasters in the post-match talk show:
“There will some retirements also coming through, you never know. This is not the time to think about it. You really get away from it, give it a lot of thought but there are a lot of players in their mid-30s who would consider their position for the Indian T20 team.”
Although he did not named anyone in particular the implications are very clear. Sunil Gavaskar wants players like Rohit sharma and even Virat Kohli (the highest run scorer of the tournament) to hang up their boots in the shortest format.
For him a new sun must rise for India in the T20I format and the leader of that new dawn will be Hardik Pandya.
Hardik Pandya as an emerging leader for Indian team
Articulating his thoughts over the same Gavaskar said, “For the tour of New Zealand, it’s a different team. The team is going there under Hardik Pandya. He will begin to put his stamp on the team because clearly the selection committee has sent a signal that he, having won the IPL in his first assignment, as a captain, they have marked him out as captain for T20s. So, I think with Pandya, it will be a completely different team.”
It is true that Hardik Pandya has proven his capabilities as captain. Earlier this year he won the maiden IPL title with his team Gujarat Titans. And then followed it up with a series victory in Ireland where he was appointed as captain in absence of senior players.
Now he will be faced with a new challenge in New Zealand where he is reappointed as a captain of the limited over side.
Under his command India will play New Zealand in a 3-match T20I series that commences from 18th of November.
