Indian cricket team legend Sunil Gavaskar was not happy that skipper Rohit Sharma would miss the first ODI against Australia due to “family commitments” and said such reasons have no place in the year of the ODI World Cup. Hardik Pandya led the side in Rohit’s absence and the hosts pulled off a solid innings from KL Rahul.

Gavaskar told Star Sports –

“I think he needs to play every game. You can’t have a captain ( Rohit Sharma ) who is there for one match and not there for the rest. It is so important. It can happen to any other player. I know it was a family commitment, so he had to be there. That’s understandable.”

However, Rohit’s return to the team was not enough for them to win the series as the visitors won the next two matches. Gavaskar was not happy with the decision taken by Rohit and said that the team needed “consistency in leadership”.

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Gavaskar further said –

“When it comes to the World Cup, you can’t have a family commitment; it’s as simple as that. Maybe before that, finish everything that you have unless it’s an emergency. Emergency is something completely different.”

Gavaskar added – “You need continuity in leadership. There’s a feeling that you have got everybody with you, otherwise there are two leaders. Then there are two leaders that the team is looking at.”