IND vs WI: Complete break for Rohit Sharma, Virat from test cricket, says Gavaskar | IND vs WI Test series: The impending India tour of West Indies in July-August has created quite a buzz among the fans and experts and it’s still far from getting settled. The people from all corners of the country have been forthright with their views following team India’s multiple failures in the important ICC events, which certainly has played a part in re-igniting the debates.
Team India recently lost the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2023 against Australia at the Oval in London. This was India’s another failure in the WTC finals after the team faced dejection against New Zealand back in 2021.
The string of poor performances, especially in the batting department, in the knockout events has instilled doubts among the fans and experts and there have been demands for major reforms in the teams.
Some people reckon the BCCI should now start looking beyond the traditional players and inject some fresh blood into the side, however, some people think otherwise.
Regardless of whatever discussions were happening in the outside world, the BCCI’s intentions were made clear after it announced team India Test and ODI squads for the tour of West Indies. The major highlight of the test squad was the absence of Cheteshwar Pujara.
Meanwhile, the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retained their places in the test squad – the move which didn’t please Sunil Gavaskar, who thought the West Indies series was the right time for the BCCI to test young players by giving breaks to the seniors.
“There was a very good chance to try and look at the next rung of cricketers. Because if there was any tour where you could have made some sort of experiments then it was the West Indies. They are not the same force anymore. Therefore, blooding in the younger players would have been the right way,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.
The former Indian cricketer and renowned commentator, although, didn’t name any cricketer, his remarks were towards the two stalwarts of Indian cricket – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Gavaskar said with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 approaching, the BCCI could have given rest to the senior players for the test assignment against West Indies and keep them fresh for the marquee event which will be held in India later this year.
“The WTC is gone, we missed out there but the next big thing is the ODI World Cup. I would have preferred the big boys to be given a complete break from Test cricket. Look at only the 50-over format and maybe T20s too as it is the abbreviated version. I would have only wanted them to focus on white-ball cricket,” he said.
He added that apart from the injury breaks, a couple of Indian players have played consistent cricket for close to nine months.
“They have been playing non-stop cricket since October-November last year. And apart from injury breaks, they have not really got long breaks. So give them a complete break from red-ball cricket. The certainties who would be playing the 50-over World Cup. You have given Shami a break so maybe the others too.”
The IND vs WI test series is slated to begin on July 12 in Dominica. The two sides will then travel to Trinidad for the second red-ball match, which starts on July 20. The two-match test series will be followed by a three-game ODI leg and five matches T20I series.
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For more details head to BCCI’s official website.
