Ever since India lost to England in the 20-20 World Cup 2022 in the knockouts on November 10, Thursday, opinions about the team have been pouring in regarding the team and its management from all parts of the world. While England eventually went on to win the title by defeating Pakistan in the summit clash on Sunday, a new Indian team under the leadership of Hardik Pandya will take on New Zealand in a three-match T20I series set to get underway on November 18.
Sunil Gavaskar, the former legendary cricketer who was frustrated with India’s loss, said that the Indian cricket board must limit the number of support staff to allow players to have clarity on whose advice should they follow. Comparing the current Indian team management to 1983’s, Gavaskar said that there was only one manager for the whole team and questioned the current Indian contingent.
We need to understand how many members we need: Sunil Gavaskar
The former legendary cricketer added that the players might struggle to follow the opinions of Vikram Rathore and Rahul Dravid and claimed that the two different opinions might not be the same, making things difficult for the players.
“In 1983 World Cup, we had one manager. Same in 1985. When the team won in 2011, there weren’t many people as well. I’m surprised the number of support staff is higher than the team members. Players get confused about whom to listen to,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying.
“Mujhe samajh nahi aata ki jab aapke paas Rahul Dravid jaise duniya ke mahaan ballebaaz hain, tab aapko aur ek batting coach ki kya zarurat hai? (I don’t understand, when you have such a legendary batter like Rahul Dravid, why do you need a batting coach?). Dravid says something, and Vikram Rathour says something else, and that leads to confusion. We need to understand how many members we need in the support staff),” he added.
“I know the Indian cricket board has money, they can even send 50-100 people with the squad. But is it really helping the team,” said the former Indian cricketer further.
