‘Rohit shouldn’t have said this...’: Gambhir criticises India skipper for statement before World Cup final

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir criticised Rohit Sharma for his recent statement on trying to win the ICC World Cup for head coach Rahul Dravid.

Rohit masterminded a dominant campaign for the Men in Blue in which they won 10 matches in a row, only to suffer a heart-breaking defeat in the final against Australia. On the eve of the final at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, Rohit had said the team was trying to win the World Cup for Dravid, who was part of the side that finished runners-up in 2003 and missed out on the title celebrations eight years later.

“He wants to be part of this big occasion, and it’s for us to do it for him,” Rohit told reporters on Saturday, 18 November.

Gambhir, however, disagreed with Rohit’s statement saying that the team should have been aiming for the trophy with the entire nation in mind, and not just one individual. Or that Rohit could have kept the Dravid sentiment limited to the dressing room and not made a public statement about it.

“When you say that you want to win the World Cup an individual, doesn’t matter who that is… this statement is not right.

“You are trying to win the World Cup for the entire country. And if you want to say such a thing then don’t say it in the media. Keep it within yourself. The truth is, it is more important to win a World Cup for the nation,” Gambhir, who was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ICC World Cup triumphs, told Sportskeeda.

Gambhir added that he had been asked similar questions back in the 2011 World Cup on whether the Men in Blue were trying to win the tournament for Sachin Tendulkar, who was making his sixth and final appearance in the showpiece event.

“I was asked the same in 2011 when everyone said we were trying to win the World Cup for one individual, I said no I want to win the Cup for my country. I picked up the bat for my country. So Rohit probably shouldn’t have said this,” Gambhir added.

Dravid’s contract as head coach, which had expired a day after the World Cup final, was renewed by the BCCI on Wednesday. Besides Dravid, members of the India support staff have also been handed extensions. Dravid had succeeded Ravi Shastri in the role in late 2021 and his two-year stint witnessed India reach the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup and win the 2023 Asia Cup besides finishing runners-up in the World Cup.

Gambhir, however, felt that such drama surrounding Dravid’s future as head coach should not have happened in the first place and that he should have been handed an “automatic extension”.

“The way India have played in the World Cup, his contract should be renewed automatically. It will be very bad if you judge a coach by just one match. Whatever is with the players, its the same for the coach. Every player. every coach wants to win the World Cup for the team,” Gambhir, who currently mentors Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, added.