The most entertaining thing about online fan wars is the imagination. Boy, oh boy! To increase engagement, what all do users not come up with? With the new generation of Indian cricketers taking over, fan wars have gone from Sachin Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli to Kohli vs Rohit Sharma to Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Shubman Gill, with the last one picking up the storm after India's Test opener was run out in the Delhi game not too long ago. However, post India's ODI captaincy switch, a new fan war has broken out, pitting Gill's fans against Rohit's. Stemming from it, the most absurd concept seems to be the idea of Rohit scoring less intentionally to ensure Gill's white-ball captaincy. See. Amusing, right?
Anyone who's ever played any sport at any level with full faith and operated without misconduct knows this is not how it works. Sunil Gavaskar is here to reiterate this. The former India captain has rejected the theory, claiming that no player 'wouldn't perform' because his own place in the team is on the line. And when it's Rohit, this holds all the more relevance given all the talk around his future and chances of playing the 2027 World Cup.
"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. So, no player, however aggrieved he may feel at losing the captaincy, is ever going to underperform deliberately," Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Sportstar.
"If anything, Kohli and Rohit will lend their full support to Gill"
{{/usCountry}}"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. So, no player, however aggrieved he may feel at losing the captaincy, is ever going to underperform deliberately," Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Sportstar.
"If anything, Kohli and Rohit will lend their full support to Gill"
{{/usCountry}}Captaining the Indian cricket team is arguably the toughest job in India after running the nation. Given the incredible fanbase, the individual is being hawkishly judged for his/her actions and decisions. With Gill taking over, how he handles the experienced former captain duo of Kohli and Rohit makes for an interesting development. It's nothing new as Mohammad Azharuddin, MS Dhoni and Kohli have all captained seniors and legends when they were the captain. As for Gill, he has already acknowledged the contributions of those two, assuring there's nothing but trust and reliance. In fact, if anything, Gavaskar reminded that Kohli and Rohit would do all they can to ensure the transition takes place smoothly.
"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. 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?" he added.