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    "Nothing can be further from the truth" – Sunil Gavaskar responds to whether Rohit Sharma will deliberately underperform to hurt Shubman Gill – sportingnews.com

    Ritabrata_Banerjee
    Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to international cricket last month as they took the field for the Men in Blue for the first time in seven months after the Champions Trophy final in Dubai.
    The Indian legends were in the playing XI for their team’s first of the three-match ODI series against Australia in Perth, however, their comeback turned out to be a nightmare.
    As Sharma departed after scoring just eight runs, Kohli followed him back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. The Men in Blue also lost the match by seven wickets as the Australian bowlers were too hot to handle.
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    This is also the first ODI series since Shubman Gill replaced Sharma as the new 50-over captain, a decision that was taken by the team management last month, during the squad announcement for the tour.
    Following Sharma and Kohli’s dismal show, many fans on social media claimed that the two senior players might have deliberately underperformed to undermine Gill’s captaincy.
    READ: Is hype hurting Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma? 
    Addressing the rumour, former India captain and opener Sunil Gavaskar wrote on his column on Sportstar: “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.”
    MORE: Concerns over Kohli-Rohit's batting form dismissed by IND batting coach
    He added: “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?”
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    Ritabrata is a content producer for The Sporting News’ India edition

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