The legend of Australia, Steve Waugh, believes that on-Fire Rohit Sharma cannot afford to be “complacent or relaxed” if he wants to continue to serve in Indian Cricket, including calling on his Captainincy prior to the coming against England. With questions that are swarming around the future of Rohit, Waugh said that the decision to lead India should come from the man himself. India starts with their World Test Championship (WTC) cycle of 2025–27 with the English series from June.
“It's all over him,” Waugh told PTI. “He is the only one who can solve that problem. He has to look himself in the mirror and say: do I still want to be a captain or play for India? Am I dedicated?” Am I putting enough time and effort into it? It is a privilege and an honor to play for your country. You cannot be complacent or relaxed, “added Waugh, a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
Rohit, who will be 38 on April 30, has passed a Lean Run in his last three against Bangladesh, Nieuw -Zeeland and Australia. He opted for the Sydney test and quoted a bad shape, because India lost the series 1-3 earlier this year.
Waugh also called for greater protection of the test cricket in the midst of the rising popularity of T20 competitions, while pushing back against proposed changes to the WTC format, including the introduction of a dual system.
“There is stress on test cricket, or it will survive because we need it as a sport. T20 cricket is great, great for players and spectators and great for sponsors, but I still think that test cricket is the essence of cricket.
“The players I believe they still want to play tests to see how good they can actually be. It's the ultimate match. Ensuring that it survives and thrives and is healthy is really important.” There has been criticism from certain quarters after South Africa qualified for the WTC final despite playing fewer competitions and avoiding top teams such as England and Australia in the cycle of 2023-25.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has considered major changes to the points system, with a dual format that is also discussed in an attempt to make the WTC more competitive.
“There are always complaints. In Champions Trophy, India played a neutral ground in Dubai and people complained that you should do what you can do to make things happen. It is not a perfect situation.
“Some countries play a lot of test matches, some don't play much. South Africa probably didn't play as much as other countries. They were quite successful in what they did.
“I believe that the two best test game countries are in line in the final.” Waugh shot the idea of a dual system and said that it would only increase the gap in the world cricket and would not contribute to the development of other teams.
“I don't like two levels, it weakens the one who does not play in the second layer on strengths, they cannot improve and get better.
“The upper parties are becoming stronger and stronger and the simply separate World Crickeinto teams that are top level and other teams that are in order and we now want to develop other teams.” “Test cricket is actually quite strong, it is probably seven or eight parties that are able to beat each other and that has not been the case for several years, so I actually think that test cricket is going well now.” There have also been reports that bonus points for erupts can be introduced from the 2025-27 WTC cycle. However, Waugh did not support the idea.
“That is all subjective. How do you say who a stronger team is? I think the current system is pretty good. At the end of the day you have to be consistent, you have to win both away and at home.
Speaking of Laureus, Waugh said: “It is now 25 years ago this organization that is quite amazing. We now have the sport for a good basis, it has something like 300 projects in 30 foreign countries, which is incredible that the work is expanding and great results, so as an organization it is really mature in those 25 years.”
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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