Recently, Wisden Almanack declared Ellyse Perry, Pat Cummins, Marnus Labuschagne, Jofra Archer and Simon Harmer as the top five cricketers of 2019. This, however, has not gone down well with some former India cricketers who believe Rohit Sharma deserved to be a part of this list.
VVS Laxman was the first one to speak out against Wisden’s decision when he said that he was “shocked” to see Sharma’s exclusion from from the list.
“I think anyone who follows the game of cricket will be surprised and shocked not to see his name in those five players’ list,” said Laxman. “Because yes, the Ashes is an important series, but the World Cup is bigger than Ashes.”
Now, Sunil Gavaskar has also weighed in on the matter. In a column for Mid-Day, the legendary Indian batsman wrote that Sharma will not be bothered by Wisden’s decision to exclude him.
“Firstly, let’s get one thing clear: Rohit is not going to lose sleep over his exclusion,” Gavaskar wrote. “All that he and the others in the Indian team are concerned about is winning games for the country and getting those delightful thumps on the back and hair ruffled by teammates in appreciation of their effort. That’s the sweetest and only compliment that any cricketer wants.
“Any other compliment, praise or even criticism doesn’t really matter. So, make no mistake it won’t matter to Rohit. He knows he gave his everything to the Indian team in their pursuit of the World Cup. You win some, you lose some.”
Gavaskar also suggested that Wisden’s opinion shouldn’t be given much importance since it clearly gives preference to performances made in England while handing out its awards.
“One may argue that Steve Smith was chosen as Cricketer of the Year in an earlier year and so does not qualify for his performances last year. This once again confirms that the second best or lower performances get the nod,” said the 70-year-old.
“Remember also that a player could get thousands of runs and hundreds of wickets but if that has not happened in England then he still won’t be in the list of five since only performances in England are taken into account. Since that has been the case for so long, why should anyone even give the list and the publication any importance since it rates only what happens in England.”
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