Gautam Gambhir Warned to Stop ‘Blame Game’ as Kohli, Rohit Could Be Next Targets

Gautam Gambhir Warned to Stop: One of the consequences of India's disastrous performance in the 2024-25 season, which saw them miss the World Test Championship Final for the first time, was the notion that Gautam Gambhir's words to the players had leaked to the media. Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali lambasted this sort of reporting, asserting such news does anything but good for the team environment. He urged India to sort it out, with the Champions Trophy around the corner.

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“There are talks that Sarfaraz (Khan) leaked the dressing room talks and the board meeting conversations were leaked. This is not a good sign; it affects the team unity. The faster it ends, the better," said Basit on his Youtube channel. The dressing room leaks were brought up during the BCCI's review meeting on January 11 and it was reported that Gambhir blamed Sarfaraz for it. "There shouldn’t be any blame game and Gautam Gambhir needs to play a role here. There was no Sarfaraz in the (BCCI review) meeting,” said Basit.

The 54-year-old further said that India will now have the ODI home series against England. As always, this series is practically a dress rehearsal for both the teams for the much-anticipated Champions Trophy, which begins on February 19, just a week after the third ODI in Ahmedabad.

"The Champions Trophy will see a different team. Winning against England will put them in a nice space but if they lose against them, the confidence level will dip.

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'Such leakages are intended to derail the team environment.'

Basit said that the BCCI chairman Roger Binny, selectors, captain Rohit Sharma, and the players have to sync in order to form a good team. Such information leakages do nothing good for the team environment, and the players ought to keep their guard up against it. In such instances, even if the reports are against people such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, or himself.

“Like PCB, there are four pillars – chairman, selectors, captain and players. They need to be together to form a good team. They should have same mindset. Similarly for BCCI, all these four pillars should be on the same page. Such news are spread to affect the team environment and media plays a key role. Whether it’s targeted towards Virat, Rohit or another group at Gambhir,” said Basit.

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