No knee-jerk decisions in BCCI’s review meet on India’s disastrous Australia tour

The meeting was held at a five-star facility in Mumbai and BCCI President Roger Binny and secretary elect Devajit Saikia were in attendance along with Rohit and Gambhir

New Delhi: India’s disastrous tour of Australia was reviewed by the BCCI in an over two-hour-long meeting with under-fire skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir on Sunday but the Board decided against any knee-jerk response to the debacle that was largely blamed on the poor form of senior players.

The meeting was held at a five-star facility in Mumbai and BCCI President Roger Binny and secretary elect Devajit Saikia were in attendance along with Rohit and Gambhir.

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“There was a detailed discussion on the Border Gavaskar Trophy performance and what all went wrong and the course correction required. But do not expect a hurried decision from the new dispensation of BCCI,” a source privy to developments in the Board said.

India surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade following the 1-3 loss to Australia. The team was also knocked out of the World Test Championship final in June this year due to the defeat in the five-match series.

It is understood that with an important ODI tournament like the Champions Trophy scheduled in another six weeks’ time, any immediate reaction would have a negative impact on the team as well as the support staff.

Rohit, who drew considerable flak for his underwhelming batting performance in Australia, is also the national ODI captain. The team will get a break only after the Champions Trophy, which concludes on March 9, and the players will then be seen in the colours of their respective IPL franchises after that. India’s next big Test assignment is a five-match series against England in June.

Speculation is swirling that the 37-year-old Rohit will not be selected for that series. Virat Kohli’s future is also under the scanner although it is believed that he is in a slightly better position as of now. While Rohit managed just 31 runs in Australia, prompting him to drop himself from the fifth and final Test, Kohli managed a hundred in the opening game in Perth.

With more than five months to go for the next Test series, many in the BCCI believe that there is no need to take a decision right away. However, how Rohit and Kohli perform in the Champions Trophy will be a major factor in deciding which direction their careers take in the coming few months.

That the Indian Test set-up is in turmoil during a difficult transition was evident from the abrupt manner in which senior off-spinner R Ashwin retired mid-series after not being played for the majority of the games he was there.

No cherry-picking assignments

It is also learnt that players won’t be allowed to pick and choose bilateral assignments based on their whims and fancies.

They will have to provide valid medical reasons for skipping any games. The Board has already directed the stars to turn up for domestic engagements with Gambhir stating it firmly that all those who are committed to red-ball cricket must show up for Ranji Trophy matches.