Former India opener makes bold statement regarding India squad for tour of West Indies

With a few noticeable exceptions in the Test lineup, India's teams for the West Indies tour released last Friday were broadly in accordance with expectations. It was anticipated that the two-Test series, which kicks off India's World Test Championship campaign, would represent a turning point in Indian cricket. A star-studded lineup starring Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja will be facing the Windies, so perhaps the Indian think tank doesn't want to rush in just yet. Young and fresh faces were anticipated to travel to the Caribbean.

The squad selection has elicited a range of responses, with some applauding the choice and others... less so. The famous Sunil Gavaskar falls into the latter group. The former India captain believes that playing against a weak team like the West Indies was the perfect opportunity for Team India to test out some of the upcoming talents, adding that choosing the established talents would have served no purpose other than to boost their individual records.

How does it even matter if they score heaps of runs: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his article in the Mid-day, “West Indies are no more the force they were in the last century as can be seen by the fact that they are currently playing in Zimbabwe to try and qualify for the ODI World Cup that they won twice in the 70s. So picking some younger players for the Test series would have made more sense."

He focused on the statistics of the senior players against West Indies and how it won’t matter to get results against them. He wrote, "What is Indian cricket going to learn by picking the same seniors for the two Test matches who have now failed to deliver in two World Test Championship finals? How does it even matter if they score heaps of runs and take a bunch of wickets in the Caribbean apart from it bulking up their individual career stats."

The former Indian team opener focused on giving rest to players who are most certainly in the squad for the World Cup. He wrote, "More importantly, the seniors who are certainties for the World Cup in October could have done with a bit of rest after the busy season they have had over the last six months. With the World Cup in mind, they should focus only on white-ball cricket and prepare for what promises to be an exciting World Cup."