Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the BCCI’s decision of not resting senior players for the upcoming West Indies tour. India are scheduled to play 2 Tests, 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is in the Caribbean.
The squad for the Test and ODIs were announced on Friday (June 23) and the selectors have picked almost all of the senior players in both the teams. Barring fast-bowler Mohammed Shami, all the top India players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja will be travelling to the Caribbean islands.
The senior players are likely to be rested for the 5-match T20I series but Sunil Gavaskar is not at all impressed with their participation in the ODI and the Test series ahead of the all important ODI World Cup 2023. The marquee event is set to be played in October and November in India. Prior to that, India are also scheduled to play the Asia Cup and all the senior players are likely to play that.
“Give them a break, give them a complete break. Look, they have finished on the 12th of June, give them a break till 20, 25th of July. I mean no Test matches, no travelling either. Now apparently this team is going to go for warm-up matches from the 1st or 2nd of July. So how many day’s break have they had? Barely 20 days? Why not give them a 40-day break,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
“Give them a complete 40 day break so when they comeback for the one days and the new season totally fresh,” he further added.
Sunil Gavaskar questions selection:
Speaking further, Sunil Gavaskar also questioned some of the calls the selectors made for the upcoming tour. The legendary batsman stated that the selection has demeaned Ranji Trophy and the players who perform in that tournament.
“Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring at an average of 100 in all past three seasons. What does he have to do to be picked in the squad? He might not be in the XI, but you pick him in the team,” Gavaskar said.
“Tell him that his performances are being recognised. Otherwise, stop playing Ranji Trophy. Say, it’s of no use, you just play IPL and think you are good enough for the red ball game as well,” he added.
India’s Test squad for West Indies
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini
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