Big names should be given a complete break from Test cricket: Sunil Gavaskar
In light of their recent performances, he believes the senior players in the squad are no longer the same force.
Crickate
The July-August tour of the West Indies will mark the beginning of India's third World Test Championship (WTC) cycle in 2023-25. Following their loss to Australia in the 2023 WTC final at The Oval in London, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav were omitted from the squad for the two-match Test series. In the meantime, three youthful players, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Mukesh Kumar, were selected for the longest format of the game.
Rohit Sharma will continue to command the team and will be joined by veteran players such as Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Ravindra Jadeja. Former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar believes the West Indies tour was an excellent occasion for the team management to experiment with and evaluate the next generation of Test cricketers. In light of their recent performances, he believes that the senior members of the team are no longer as formidable.
"There was an excellent opportunity to evaluate the next level of cricketers. Because if there was any tour where you could have conducted experiments, it would have been in the West Indies. They are no longer the same force. Gavaskar told Sports Today that integrating the younger athletes would have been the best course of action.
I would have preferred that only the senior players concentrate on white-ball cricket: Gavaskar Gavaskar continued by stating that the WTC has concluded and that the next significant event is the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, which will take place in India in October. Additionally, the 73-year-old stated that the 'big guys' should have been given a complete break from Test cricket. Since they had been playing nonstop since the 2022 T20 World Cup, he wanted the senior players to focus solely on white-ball cricket for now.
"The WTC is gone, and we missed out there, but the ODI World Cup is the next big thing." I would have favored a complete break from Test cricket for the big boys. Consider only the 50-over format and perhaps T20s as well, given that they are the abbreviated versions. I would have wanted them to concentrate solely on white-ball cricket, said the former cricketer.
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In addition, he stated that they have been playing cricket nonstop since October-November of last year. In addition, he stated that they require a complete break from red-ball cricket due to the fact that they do not receive many extended breaks besides injury breaks. He added that if management granted Shami a reprieve, perhaps the others will also receive one.
"They have been playing cricket nonstop since October-November of the previous year. And with the exception of injury breaks, they do not have lengthy breaks. So remove them entirely from red-ball cricket. The unquestionable participants in the 50-over World Cup. You gave (Mohammed) Shami a reprieve, so perhaps the others will as well," he added.
