Former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has advised the International Cricket Council (ICC) to reconsider India’s packed cricketing calendar. Notably, his comments came after the BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia stated that the high volume of injuries is because of too many matches happening.
With the ICC set to discuss the next four-year cycle beginning in 2027, Gavaskar, while writing his column for Sportstar, hopes the decision will be taken, keeping the Indian players’ workload in mind.
“The recent meeting to take stock of Indian cricket did try to come to grips with the issue. Hopefully, when the ICC meeting to discuss the international cricket calendar over the next cycle of four years from 2027 takes place, the decision-makers will realise that Indian cricketers are neither machines nor sugarcane to be endlessly squeezed for every drop of the juice,” Gavaskar wrote in his column.
“The India cricket team is not Indian cricket. The India cricket team is the by-product of Indian cricket,” he wrote.
Further, Gavaskar wrote that one Indian team isn’t good enough to win much silverware, while there have been talks of India fielding multiple teams. He went on to add that domestic cricket needs to be prioritised to produce world beaters.
“The argument that India’s bench strength is such that it can field three teams is good to make claims for the world, but the reality, as recent results have shown, is that one India team is at the moment not good enough to win much silverware. Yes, a gold in the Asian Games will once again rejuvenate the team and give it the confidence for oncoming battles, but unless domestic cricket is prioritised, the pipeline will not produce world beaters. All the best to both our boys and girls to win the gold,” Gavaskar concluded.
