‘Solely because of Rohit and nobody else’ – Sunil Gavaskar slams usage of term ‘Gamball’ after win against Bangladesh

Former Indian opener and batting great Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at fans terming India’s new approach with Gautam Gambhir. The comments were written in a leading sports magazine Sportstar after India beat Bangladesh in Kanpur. Rohit Sharma and co batted just under 35 overs to score 285/8 and won the Test by 7 wickets. 

Sunil Gavaskar wrote, “As seen in India last year, this approach doesn't work in Test matches and may surprise the opposition for a game or two at best. While one paper called the Indian batting “Bossball” because the captain or “boss” of the team, Rohit, had shown the way, some from the old powers referred to it as “Gamball” after the Indian coach, Gautam Gambhir.”

Rohit Sharma has been getting a lot of praise for his ultra-aggressive captaincy. More than two and a half days were lost in Kanpur due to rain. Despite this, team India won the game and went on to win the series 2-0. 

Sunil Gavaskar credits Rohit Sharma for India’s attacking intent

Former Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar also wrote in Sportstar, “While the England batting approach changed completely under the new regime of Ben Stokes and McCullum, we have seen over the last couple of years that Rohit has been batting like this and encouraging his team to do so as well.”

According to Sunil Gavaskar, the term ‘Gamball’ is unjustified since Gautam Gambhir has coached India for just a few months. India’s current coach was credited with the way Kolkata Knight Riders played during IPL 2024 to win the title. 

“Gambhir has only been coaching for a couple of months, so attributing this approach to him is foot-licking of the highest quality. Gambhir himself hardly ever batted in this fashion like McCullum used to do. If any credit is due, it is solely to Rohit and nobody else.”

The former Indian skipper also opined, “Instead of using the words this-ball or that-ball, I would suggest using the skipper’s first name, Rohit, and term it the 'Gohit' approach. Hopefully, brainier people will come up with a trendier name for this rather than the lazy option of calling it after 'Bazball.'"