Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar pointed out a significant gap in the Indian cricket team on Wednesday, saying that players on the team had been treated differently. The former captain also slammed the BCCI and current team management for allegedly discriminating against players on the team.
Quoting the examples of T Natarajan and senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar said there are double standards within the Indian team when it comes to the treatment of players. In his column on Sports Star, Gavaskar said that Indian test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had suffered far too long to express his opinion at team meetings.
The former captain pointed out that Tamil Nadu’s weirdo has been consistently struck off the team after an average performance, while other established batsmen remain unchallenged despite their poor performance.
“For too long, Ashwin has not suffered from his bowling ability, which only the Churlish will doubt, but from his openness and opinion at meetings where most of the others just nod, even if they disagree,” wrote Gavaskar in his column for Sports Star.
The former captain added: “Any other country would welcome a bowler who has more than 350 test wickets, not to mention the centuries of four test matches. However, if Ashwin doesn’t take many wickets in one game, he invariably fails the next. But that doesn’t happen to established batsmen. Even if they fail in a game, they get another chance and another and another, but for Ashwin the rules seem different. ”
It is important to note that Ravichandran Ashwin, who currently only plays the Red Ball format, has been completely banned from shorter formats. The prolific spinner last played ODI for India in 2017 and was later dropped despite his good show in IPL and the domestic racetrack.
Ravichandran Ashwin is India’s fourth highest wicket taker in test cricket with 370 wickets in 70 games. In ODIs he has 150 wickets in 111 games, while in T20Is he has selected 52 wickets in 46 games.
Sunny Gavaskar claims different rules for captain Kohli and newcomer Natarajan
Sunil Gavaskar also criticized the team management, pointing out that Captain Virat Kohli was allowed to leave Australia on the basis of paternity leave after the first test, but Pacer Natarajan was forced to remain as a “net bowler” to join the Indian contingent after becoming a father during the IPL 2020 playoffs.
“Another player who is wondering about the rules, but of course can’t make any noise because he’s a newbie. It’s T Natarajan. The left-leaning York specialist, who made an impressive debut in the T20 and gallantly offered Hardik Pandya to share the man of the T20 series award with him, had already become a father during the IPL playoffs. He was brought to Australia straight from the UAE and, looking at his brilliant performances, was asked to stay on for the test series, but not as part of the team, but as a net bowler. Imagine that, ”wrote Gavaskar.
At the end of his column, Gavaskar wrote: “A match winner, albeit in a different format, is asked to be a net bowler. So he won’t return home until after the series ends in the third week of January and then see his daughter for the first time. And there is the captain who, after the first test, returns to give birth to his first child. This is Indian cricket. Different rules for different people. If you don’t believe me, ask Ravi Ashwin and T. Natarajan. “
The Indian team is currently touring Australia for a full-fledged series consisting of three ODIs, three T20Is and four tests. India lost the One Day series but managed to win the twenty-over format. The Indian team, led by Virat Kohli, suffered a humiliating loss in the first Test against Australia after hitting a record low of just 36 runs in the second innings in Adelaide. The second test match “Boxing Day” will take place on December 26th at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.