The former Indian opening batter, Sunil Gavaskar, has blamed the fans of Indian cricket for spreading a false claim of how the former ODI captain, Rohit Sharma, has deliberately underperformed under the new leadership of Shubman Gill during the opening 50-over clash against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth.

Gavaskar felt that the misconception is far from the truth. He also revealed that similar things had also been made in the past. Rohit Sharma returned with a struggling score of eight runs in the middle after he ended up getting an outside edge into the slip region.

See Also: Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026 mega auction's date and venue revealed

“Over the years, a significant misconception among Indian cricket fans is that if a player is replaced as captain, he will attempt to undermine the new captain by not performing to the best of his ability. Nothing can be further from the truth, for the simple fact is that if a captain has been replaced and then doesn’t perform, he could be out of the team altogether.” Gavaskar wrote in his column on Sportstar.

Sunil Gavaskar slams Indian fans for their misconception about former Indian captains

Along with Rohit, Virat Kohli was dismissed for an eight-ball duck in the middle. The right-handed batter couldn’t keep the ball on the ground when he went for a flashing drive and was caught by the backward point fielder.

“So, no player, however aggrieved he may feel at losing the captaincy, is ever going to underperform deliberately. With that misconception still going strong, many are questioning if young Shubman Gill will be able to handle two former captains, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who are part of the three-match One-Day International series against Australia.” The former opener addressed.

“Gill has gone out of his way to say that his equation with them hasn’t changed simply because he is the captain now. If anything, he will only benefit by having these two stalwarts by his side. Both would be happy to offer suggestions if asked, and what could be better for a captain leading in this format for the first time than to have two of the greatest ODI players playing in his team?” Gavaskar concluded.