Poster Blunder: Virat Kohli's Photo Replaces Rohit Sharma's in Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tease, Fans Question Respect for Indian Captain
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is always the talk of the cricketing world as it pits India against their arch-rivals Australia. In a poster that could point to everything wrong with the machine, and with it being recently released ahead of the first Test in Perth, this is surely not the build-up to another epic clash over a fortnight. The only controversy it has created is that the picture used is of India's captain Rohit Sharma and instead of his picture, there is one by Australia's captain Pat Cummins.
In no time it spread like fire among fans and analysts. The question being raised: How did the broadcaster make such an omission where everybody knew for sure that Rohit Sharma was the captain of the Indian team? Rohit has captained India many times. Still, along with the Australian skipper and his predecessor in the Indian job, Virat Kohli, the photograph of the Indian captain does not adorn an advertisement poster issued to promote the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. And this too has been an unfortunate insult.
This isn't a small error; it is a big one if the series itself and the Indian captain's role are considered. Rohit Sharma's captains have been the main constituents of India for quite some time now, and his captaincy, especially when it comes to the series with Australia in the near future, constitutes an important part of the schemes India plans.
While it is true that Rohit's Test batting record in Australia hasn't been better than Kohli—he never managed to cross 50 like Kohli did—there is a case to be made here that he is, currently, India's skipper. Rohit has seniority over Kohli, and he has been given responsibility to lead India on foreign soil. So, by replacing Rohit with Kohli in his photo, the question about respect being given to the current leadership arises.
The mistake occurred during the Pakistan-Australia One-Day International in Perth when the broadcaster accidentally showed the graphic of the India-Australia Test series. Pat Cummins is pictured along with Virat Kohli in this graphic, and this understandably has caused anger from supporters who feel that this diminishes the contemporary Indian captain.
Still, uncertainty prevails over Rohit's participation in the series. The new father might miss a match or two in the series. Irrespective of whether Rohit plays or not, the poster controversy has sparked a discussion on the way the broadcasters and media portray the roles of the cricketers, especially the captain.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series will commence on November 22 and is going to be one exciting contest between the two most powerful cricketing nations of the world. All eyes in Australia by then would have forgotten about the controversy surrounding the poster, but fans are sure to question why their captain was treated this way.