Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar responded to Rohit Sharma’s claims of not playing first-class practice games on overseas visits, arguing that intra-squad matches before a Test series are pointless. The Men In Blue suffered a humiliating defeat in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa by an innings and 32 runs.
Earlier, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was questioned about the team’s preparations and why the Test regulars chose not to play any first-class competitive matches before the two-match series. The skipper stated that the previous tour games did not provide the ideal pitches or bowling quality, therefore the touring Indian sides chose to play intra-squad matches.
Speaking on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar disagreed with Indian captain Rohit Sharma and advised the Indian team to play A teams or domestic champions in visiting international tours, believing that it would provide valuable experience for the team ahead of the big matches.
“Look, this might be the case, I don’t know. I just want to say that if you can play against A teams or the domestic champions of the touring country, their players will be looking to impress their selectors. So they will give it their all, be it a fast bowler or a batter.”
“When you plan your preparation for overseas tours, you should have discussions with the home board and request them to play against A teams or domestic champions. By doing so, you stand a good chance of getting good practice,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
Indian players competed in two four-day matches between India A and South Africa A, but the Test regulars were not present. Instead, they chose an intra-squad practice match in Pretoria the week before the Boxing Day Test, although it appeared that Indian regulars fell far short of the preparations.
The Problem Comes From The Difference In Conditions – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar says that India playing intra-squad matches against each other makes no sense. He believes that Indian bowlers will not give their all in these games and that the players must adapt to the situations.
“Playing intra-squad matches doesn’t make sense. It’s better you spend time at home and come here directly. Why? Your fast bowlers might not want to give their 100 percent in intra-squad matches because there are chances of injuries, say if a fast bowler bowls a bouncer to batters”.
“It’s not a recent phenomenon. It has happened in our time also. The problem comes from the difference in conditions. You have to get used to such conditions, you have to play practice matches for that,” Sunil Gavaskar added.
On Saturday, December 30, India held an optional training session in Centurion. The visitors will want to improve when the two teams meet in the second and final Test, which begins on January 3 in Cape Town and the team would be keen to draw the series on South African soil.