Earlier in month, in an interaction with India Today, Gavaskar said that chief selector Ajit Agarkar should name Bumrah as the captain for the entire Australia series, amid the then uncertainty over Rohit’s duration of absence from the tour. He explained that India need to have a uniformity in terms of decision making from the management and hence when Rohit does make himself available for the series, he can join purely as a player, and not a captain.

Less than a fortnight since that comment, which was not appreciated by Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh in a telling reaction, Harbhajan was asked about his thoughts during his interaction with Jatin Sapru on his YouTube show and the veteran off-spinner took a savage dig at social media in his sharp response.

Calling out fans on the internet for “changing sides quickly,” he reckoned, given the trend, if India win under Bumrah in Perth, before the joining of Rohit, there might be a major chaos on social media over captaincy for the second Test in Adelaide. He further predicted that if India lose under both Bumrah and Rohit, social media could want Virat Kohli back as their leader for the third Test.

“If you win the first two Tests, then all Indians would want Bumrah to remain as captain. On the contrary, if India lose both of those games, they would want Rohit to return. We change sides very quickly. I’m not talking about Sunny sir here; I’m talking about the general public. I feel it’s a great suggestion to have one captain for the entire series. That would be better. If India lose, nobody will question it. However, if India win and Rohit returns for the subsequent matches and then the team lose, that will spark a whole different scenario. But if India lose under both Rohit and Bumrah, they might want Virat Kohli as captain,” he said.

However, when pressed about Gavaskar’s suggestion, Harbhajan agreed saying, “It might not be a bad idea. There shouldn’t be any problem as well because Bumrah has the ability to lead a team.”

Will Rohit Sharma be available for 1st Test?

According to reports, Rohit, who had his second child on Friday, is certain to miss the Perth opener, but had told BCCI that he would be available for the second Test in Adelaide. In fact, Rohit will be playing a two-day pink ball warm-up game prior to the match on November 30.