"You don't say there you want a best of 3"- Sunil Gavaskar hits back at Rohit Sharma, says IPL has only 1 Final

Sunil Gavaskar has rejected Rohit Sharma's suggestion to have a best-of-three finals in the ICC World Test Championship. The former Indian cricketer pointed out that the Indian Premier League also has one final, and no player demands a best-of-three finals there.

After losing the WTC Final 2023 against Australia, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said at the post-match press conference that he would love to have a best-of-three format in the World Test Championship Final next time.

Speaking to India Today after the match, Sunil Gavaskar was asked if WTC Finals should be best-of-three.

"No. I think it has been decided for a long time. Even before you enter the first match of the cycle, you know that the final is just going to be a one-off. So you have to be prepared, just like you are prepared in the IPL. You don't say there you want a best of 3," Gavaskar replied.

"Everybody can have a bad day. Everybody can have a bad couple of days. Tomorrow after Best of 3, you will say you want a Best of 5," he added.

"You have to be brutally honest"- Sunil Gavaskar slams experienced Indian stars for their shot-selection

India's shot selection in the second innings of the WTC Final 2023 received a lot of criticism as Australia picked up the seven wickets for just 55 runs. Some fans stated that the Indian batters were stuck in T20 mode, having played in a two-month long IPL season just before the WTC Final.

Sunil Gavaskar disagreed and said that experienced players like Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should have played better shots.

"How long has Ajinkya Rahane been playing for India? How long has Cheteshwar Pujara been playing? How long have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma been playing for India? After all that experience, if you are going to make that excuse that there was T20 cricket that's why they played T20 shots, then you're never going to win any tournament," Gavaskar said.

"You have to be brutally honest and say from the beginning what was your approach," he concluded.

The next WTC cycle will start later this month with the Ashes between England and Australia. India will play their first series of the new cycle against West Indies in July.