Rohit Sharma’s dismissal justified by Gautam Gambhir’s companion with reminder of ‘BGT horror show’
Indian national cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir’s former teammate Robin Uthappa has supported the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee’s decision to sack Rohit Sharma as ODI skipper.
Robin Uthappa also recalled the events that unfolded during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, which made life difficult for the Indian team during the Australia tour.
He will, in all honesty, be 41 when the World Cup rolls around. RIGHT? -Robin Uthappa on Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma was stripped of the ODI captaincy ahead of the Australia tour, which ends his illustrious leadership career in international cricket.
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In 2024, he himself relinquished the captaincy by withdrawing from the T20I format after the T20 World Cup victory, and he resigned as Test captain and withdrew from the format ahead of the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
His Test retirement came after India’s defeat in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the many dramas surrounding it. Notably, Rohit Sharma skipped the first match of the Test series to stay with his family after the birth of his son, and upon his return, he displayed a horrible batting performance.
In five innings, Rohit Sharma scored just 31 runs and bowed out of the fifth Test in Sydney, returning the captaincy to Jasprit Bumrah, who guided India to a victory in the first Test. However, India ended up losing the series 1-3.
Meanwhile, speaking on his YouTube channel, Robin Uthappa said that India would like to avoid a repeat of BGT; hence, handing over the leadership to Shubman Gill was the right decision. He said:
“He will, in all honesty, be 41 when the World Cup comes around. Right? So you have to take that into consideration as well. And for all intents and purposes, I think it’s better to make the decision when the stakes are low rather than when the stakes are high, you don’t want another situation like what happened in Australia.
“To get to Rohit Sharma, he is too good a player for something to happen to him like that again. So, maybe to avoid all these things. Maybe, I don’t know… You don’t want an uncomfortable situation like that, and if he stays fit, then no questions. You know Rohit and Virat will be part of this team.”
They know how they run their races and how they perform well – Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa further backed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to continue their exploits in 50-over cricket but warned against slowing down their reflexes. He declared:
“Yeah, I think so. I think they’ve done well too… So far, they’ve played exceptionally well. So, I think they’ll continue to do well… They know how they make their runs and how they perform well, and they’ll stick to their set patterns that work for them, and I think they’ll continue to do that.
“I don’t see any form that would diminish that sense, but it’s just a matter of reflexes and does it work, and how those things work because right now they’re not playing much cricket as well. The only cricket they’ll find themselves playing is maybe IPL and One Day cricket, and maybe maybe some domestic One Day matches if they get through.”
If he stays fit, I think he will participate in the next World Cup – Robin Uthappa
Predicting Rohit Sharma’s ODI future, Robin Uthappa said that the modern-day great hitter could only book a place in the Indian ODI squad for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 if he works very hard on his body and maintains high-level fitness. He said:
“If he stays fit, then I think he will be part of the next World Cup because, as I said at the start of the group, I think their success patterns in ODI cricket are clear to them. They know what works for them… However, Rohit Sharma is someone who has fundamentally upped the ante even in One Day cricket, and I think in the last 3-4 years he has played in a much faster game, and I think that was a transformation of sorts of him.
“Ideally the way he scored all his runs in ODI cricket was that his first fifty would take about 60 to 75 balls, then the next fifty at a lot less, then the next fifty at a lot less… The change in which he approaches One Day cricket has changed, and I think he’s probably found a happy medium to that,” he added.
Also Read: Dilip Vengsarkar indirectly orders Ajit Agarkar to remove Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from ODIs
