Former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar has criticised Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly for undermining the selectors and speaking on their behalf on Rohit Sharma’s fitness ahead of the Australia tour.
After Rohit Sharma was omitted from India’s squads for the Australia tour, the Indian vice-captain appeared for Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians sparking controversy over the true extent of his injury.
However, Ganguly told PTI that Rohit Sharma had suffered a hamstring tear and he needed to be careful with the injury.
Read: The mess that is Rohit Sharma’s injury: From MI to Ganguly and BCCI, miscommunication reigns supreme
The BCCI president’s comments though did not sit well with Vengsarkar.
“It’s quite astonishing to see the Ganguly wearing so many hats as he speaks on behalf of the supposedly appointed chairman of selectors, Sunil Joshi, as why ‘X’ was dropped and ‘Y’ was not selected and why ‘Z’ was not considered, besides how somebody is still not fit,” Vengsarkar told The Times of India.
“I always believed the game should be run by former cricketers and was expecting a lot from Ganguly. However, whatever I have seen so far is beginning to change my mind,” he added.
Read: India tour of Australia: What tug-of-war over Rohit Sharma tells us about IPL vs country debate
The former Indian batsman also expressed concern over the discrepancy in the medical reports of the MI and BCCI physios.
“Rohit surprisingly sees himself being dropped from the Indian team for the tour because the BCCI physio has ruled him out due to hamstring injury. Now, the question is: How did the MI physio declare Rohit fit to play in the IPL? Why is there a discrepancy in the reports of two physios?” he said.
Sharma has now been added in India’s Test squad for Australia tour but has been rested for the limited-overs series Down Under. The Indian vice-captain in white-ball cricket, however, is set to play for Mumbai Indians in the IPL final on Tuesday.