"You Can't Be Asking...": Sunil Gavaskar's evasive response to Rohit Sharma's request for a "3-Match WTC Final"

Sunil Gavaskar, a batting legend, has also criticized the India captain for coming up with the idea of playing a three-match series in the next cycle of the World Test Championship final. Gavaskar stated that every team should be mentally prepared before playing such significant events. In the WTC final at The Oval on Sunday, India lost to Australia by 209 runs after being run out for 234, in the chase for 444 runs.

“I would like to play the 3-Test match series for the WTC Final,” Rohit said after the match. We tried sincerely and we battled, yet we played only 1 game. I figure a 3-match series would be ideal in the following WTC cycle.”

Expressing his viewpoints on Rohit’s idea, Gavaskar told India Today, “No. This has been decided for a long time, and you are aware that the final will be a one-time event even before the first match of the cycle. Therefore, you need to be mentally prepared.”

You don’t say best of three like you do before the IPL. Anyone can have a bad day or a few bad days, but you know what they are before the first ball of the cycle. Therefore, you cannot request a best-of-three result. You might say best of five tomorrow,” he continued.

India were bowled out for 234 in their second innings on the final day at The Oval, and Australian pacer Scott Boland bowled a rare quality spell to dismiss Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over. India effectively lost the match.

India had only themselves to blame for yet another defeat in a global competition, whereas Australia was clearly the superior team on all fronts. India’s most recent ICC title came in 2013, and it was their second consecutive defeat in the WTC final after losing to New Zealand two years earlier.