Former India player Rohan Gavaskar is now one of the most sensible voices in Indian broadcasting. He is someone who doesn’t get carried away by the hyperbole mode of TV and is refreshingly very candid with his observations. Moneycontrol spoke to Gavaskar on a range of issues related to the Asia Cup. Edited excerpts:
Rohan, thank you so much for joining us. My first question is that you have seen this Indian team very closely in the West Indies and then in Zimbabwe recently. What is your first thought when you look at this team under Rohit Sharma?
This Indian team has a lot of depth. Not too many players from the West Indies and Zimbabwe series are there in the Asia Cup. That shows the kind of depth this team has. It’s a good sign for Indian cricket.
At the moment, I think Indian cricket is where Australian cricket was in the late 90s or early 2000. They could field up to three international sides. You can feel the two teams and both have set a standard.
I remember Hardik Pandya saying when he was captaining the last T20 in Miami against West Indies, ‘Look we have set a standard as an Indian cricket side now, and it doesn't matter what changes we make to the 11, we have to adhere to those standards.’ I think that’s a great sign for Indian cricket.
In this Asia Cup, with two high-profile India-Pakistan matches already done, do you think this is going to be some sort of dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup?
Well, this is an ACC (Asian Cricket Council) tournament. I don’t think they look at this as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup. They look at this tournament as if they want to win another trophy for their trophy cabinet. So they won’t be looking at this as a dress rehearsal.
I don’t think we will see a lot of experimentation as we have seen in the past, like, for example, Avesh Khan being given that last over in that game against West Indies when Bhuvneshwar Kumar was there. That was the Indian team trying out something for the future.
I don’t think we will see too much of that in the Asia Cup. We might see it in the games against Australia or South Africa that are going to be played in the bilateral series.
Talking about Rohit Sharma, specifically, the new captain, and Rahul Dravid, the new coach. Ever since they took over after the T20 WC last year, what is the one specific change you have noticed in the team management?
Honestly, in the last two years, I am not privy to what is being spoken inside the dressing room as far this team management or the previous management are concerned. From what you hear from players and their interviews, Dinesh Karthik said this is a far more relaxed, calm and composed environment. You can also see that they are willing to experiment with a lot of situations like I said earlier about Avesh Khan bowling the last over.
Then, Suryakumar Yadav opening the innings… We have seen that in the ODIs against Zimbabwe, even though Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma were not there. It was KL Rahul and VVS Laxman as captain and coach. We have seen Sanju Samson keep in the first two games and Ishan Kishan keep in the third match.
Again, they are trying different things and that’s good to know. It’s also good to see that a lot of players are getting enough opportunities — not just in one or two games. That’s again excellent and a good thing to see.
How much do you think this is a Rohit Sharma template or Rahul Dravid template of handling players?
Well, I don’t know if it’s Rohit Sharma or Rahul. As I told you, I am not privy to what is happening in the dressing room but you know from outside as an Indian fan.
You want to see that you want to see people get enough opportunities because each and every one of those players that have been picked for India has got talent, has got potential. You don’t get to play for India if you don’t have talent and potential. I mean, you got to score runs at whatever level you’re playing. Once you get there (Indian team), you want to make sure that these kids get enough opportunities to showcase the kind of skills they have.
Do you think there is never an edge with any team in the India-Pakistan game? Especially, since there is no Jasprit Bumrah or Afridi in respective teams?
Well, I think it’s still high-quality games. Look at the batters that are on either side. Look at the bowlers… two high-quality cricketing nations going head-to-head against each other. Look, it’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be riveting and you obviously hope that the result goes the right way — which is an Indian victory.