Workload management has been the buzz word lately in cricket. With the amount of cricket being played now across formats, Team India, too, has been resting and rotating players to avoid burnouts.
With the ICC ODI World Cup set to start on October 5, several senior Indian players have been rested recently. Though Asia Cup was an exception, when India fielded a full-strength squad (and went on to win the title in style), in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Australia, skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav were rested for the first two matches.
But former India legend Sunil Gavaskar disagrees with the team management's decision. “I cannot fathom as to why the senior players have been given rest against Australia in the ongoing ODI series. Keeping up the winning momentum is essential for one to go into a tournament like the World Cup,” Gavaskar told former teammate and World Cupper Yajurvindra Singh in an exclusive interaction for THE WEEK.
“The Asia Cup in Sri Lanka gave the senior players enough rest,” he said, probably referring to the washout against Pakistan in the opener, and the relatively one-sided encounters against Nepal, and Sri Lanka in the final.
The 74-year-old also expressed concern over the skipper's form. “Rohit Sharma is a vital cog, both as a captain and in the Indian batting line-up. The Australian series would have been a perfect opportunity for him.” Sharma scored three fifties, including one against Nepal, in the Asia Cup, but has largely been blowing hot and cold at the top of the order.
Gavaskar, however, was upbeat about India's bowling department, especially the comeback star, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. “I feel Kuldeep Yadav, who is bowling well, could play an important part in this World Cup for India,” he told THE WEEK.
For the full interaction with Sunil Gavaskar where he talks about the 1983 win, his stint as a cricket administrator – he brought bouncers into ODIs – about Ravichandran Ashwin, and his picks for the 2023 World Cup, grab the latest issue of THE WEEK (issue dated October 8), on stands now.
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