The Indian cricket team will be playing a two-match test series against West Indies starting from 12 July and the first test match will be played at Windsor Park Dominica. This first test match also marks the beginning of the new WTC cycle for India and as far as the Indian squad is concerned, Rohit Sharma is the skipper of the team which has senior players – Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. While Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed as the vice-captain of the team, Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped from the team after the loss in the WTC final. Some youngsters such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar and Ruturaj Gaikwad have also been included in the squad.
While everyone feels that this team is the best possible team that the selectors can choose, the former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar who is still very upset with the loss in the WTC final feels that India should have gone with a younger team in this series as it will help in the transition in coming time. Little Master was also unhappy because he feels that nothing has changed in the Indian team and its management since the WTC final in regard to their approach.
During an interview, he stated, “What kind of preparation are we talking about? Now they have gone to the West Indies. You have the example of the World Test Championship before you. Are you playing any matches? So what is this talk about 20-25 days? When you talk about preparation, be genuine about it. Go 15 days before, play two warm-up matches. The main guys can rest, but the fringe players might be actually challenging those who are not doing well. He does not get an opportunity to show that he is good enough.”
Sunil Gavaskar also took a jibe at the present generation of cricketers, especially the senior cricketers who talk about being fitter than earlier generations and also talk about managing the workload. He stated, “The truth is the main guys do not want to go early. Because they know that come what may, they will get selected. And when you go early, they will talk about the workload. You call yourself the fittest team in the world or fitter than the early generations then how do you break down so soon? How do you have a workload issue when you play a 20-over game?”
Do you also agree with Sunil Gavaskar?
