New Delhi: Team India’s campaign in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 was marred with a lot of controversies. The dressing room conversations were leaked to the media, with head coach Gautam Gambhir speaking against it during the press conference before the last Test against Australia.
After the fourth Test in Melbourne, Gautam Gambhir was furious at the players and gave a fiery speech in the dressing room. The Men in Blue lost seven wickets in the final session on Day 5 during the Boxing Day Test to give Australia a 2-1 lead in the series. A cricketer called ‘Mr. Fix it’ also grabbed the spotlight during the series and it was revealed that a player in the dressing room demanded captaincy from Gambhir and Rohit.
According to a report from News 24, The Indian head coach has blamed Sarfaraz Khan for leaking all the dressing room conversations to the media. Gambhir revealed this information to the BCCI officials during the review meeting for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which was also attended by Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma.
The Indian head coach was confident that it was Sarfaraz who had leaked all the information to the media. Team India lost the five-match Test series against Australia by 3-1 and also failed to qualify for the final of the World Test Championship.
Is Sarfaraz being made a scapegoat?
Sarfaraz made his India debut during the third Test match against England in Rajkot last year. He has played only six Test matches and scored just 371 runs. Still fresh in his international career, Sarfaraz finds himself at the centre of a storm after reportedly entering Gambhir’s bad books.
However, it would make little sense for someone like Sarfaraz to risk his career by leaking the dressing conversations to the media. These actions will certainly derail his path to cementing a place in the Indian team. The report of Gambhir blaming Sarfaraz also comes at a time when Rohit Sharma’s PR overdrive was left exposed on social media. Following his struggles against New Zealand and Australia, Rohit was blamed for trying to protect him image through a paid PR campaign.
Unless there is concrete proof and Gambhir makes a public statement, it would be unfair to conclude if Sarfaraz is to be blamed for the dressing room leaks. The young batter has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit and has also done well for India in the limited opportunities that have come his way. Though he didn’t get a chance to play in Australia, it remains to be seen what future might hold for the 27-year-old.
Sarfaraz once accused of age fraud
Sarfaraz was accused of age frauding when he was 13 years old. In 2011, a school accused him of being older than his actual age. After that, a bone age assessment found that he was 15 years old. However, an advanced investigation later confirmed that he was 13 years old. This controversy caused Sarfaraz to take a break from cricket and seek psychological help.
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir blamed Sarfaraz Khan for leaking the dressing room conversations during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
