Gavaskar questions Rohit and Iyer's motives after Ranji loss: 'Was it to protect their BCCI contracts?'

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, on Tuesday, criticised Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer as he questioned their intent during Mumbai's last Ranji Trophy group game against Jammu and Kashmir at the MCA Ground in Mumbai.

Rohit scored 3 and 28 during Mumbai's five-wicket loss, while Iyer managed 11 and 17 in the two innings.

Gavaskar, taking to his column in Sportstar, was not happy with the way Rohit and Iyer charged against the Jammu and Kashmir attack on a track that had a hint of movement. The India captain looked very much out of form, shaky and not ready to grind it out for long hours. It wasn't just him. Iyer and most of the top-order batters perished while trying to go after the bowling.

In praising Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian, who were Mumbai's only two standout batters in that forgettable match, Gavaskar pointed out the need to mix caution and aggression in red-ball cricket. Notably, Thakur scored a fifty and 119, while Kotian,who earned his maiden India call-up earlier this month for the tour of Australia, smashed a half-century in the second innings.

"The dismissal of Mumbai's Test batters once again brought to the fore the perils of the all-out aggressive mode of batting that is nowadays thought of as being central to run-making. It can work on flat pitches, but on pitches where the ball is doing something, there has to be a technique good enough to keep out the good delivery," he wrote.

Gavaskar also expressed discontent over the aggressive batting approach adapted by India batters in Test cricket, as he highlighted the recent loss in the Sydney Test against Australia.

"There are more chances of a dismissal while looking to play in a manner that one is not used to, as was seen in the recent Sydney Test [between India and Australia] when rushes of blood caused some silly-looking dismissals. A bit of common sense and patience, rather than a fatalistic approach, could have gotten another 50 runs, and that could well have altered the result of the match and the series," he added.

'…did it to ensure they weren't stripped of BCCI contract'

The India batting legend further questioned if Rohit and Iyer only made himself available amid BCCI's fresh mandate which once again urged India regulars to prioritise domestic cricket in a bid to stay relevant for selection into the Indian team. The mandate was part of the board's new 10-point diktat for contractual players after India's dreadful show in the tour of Australia.

"Whether their hearts were in it or they did that only to ensure they were not stripped of their BCCI contracts, like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were, after missing out on the Ranji Trophy games last year, is known only to them. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal's participation meant that Ayush Mhatre, who had got a couple of hundreds and some fifties, had to be left out of the Mumbai side. Hopefully, the youngster would have spent some time with both these players and picked their brains about adding to his batting ability," he said.

Gavaskar admitted that he now eagerly awaits the participation of KL Rahul and Virat Kohlin in Ranji Trophy. Both missed the fifth round of the domestic tournament owing to respective injuries, bit will be available for the final round, which begins on January 30.

"It would be interesting to see if KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Virat Kohli, who didn't play in last week's round of Ranji Trophy matches, will play the next round," he added.