Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to avoid taking hasty decisions following the team’s disappointing performances in the recently concluded T20I series against Ireland and England.
According to reports, the BCCI is set to hold a review meeting to assess India’s campaign in the United Kingdom and discuss possible changes if deemed necessary. However, Gavaskar believes it would be unfair to take drastic action considering India lifted the T20 World Cup just four months ago.
The Men in Blue entered the two series with a relatively inexperienced squad. Regulars such as Suryakumar Yadav were unavailable, Jasprit Bumrah was rested after a demanding IPL season, while Hardik Pandya missed the tour due to injury. Under the new captain, Shreyas Iyer, India failed to register a win across six T20Is, leading to criticism over the team’s performances.
Gavaskar said there have been rumours of major changes following the review meeting but cautioned the board against overreacting.
“The BCCI is going to do a review of the defeat, and there are rumours that a few heads could roll. That would be an extreme step, for barely four months ago India were the world champions and still are No. 2 in the ICC rankings,” he wrote in a column for Sportstar.
The batting unit came under scrutiny after struggling in English conditions despite several players enjoying productive IPL campaigns earlier this year. Youngsters like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma, along with skipper Shreyas Iyer, found it difficult to cope with swing, seam movement, and extra bounce.
Gavaskar, however, believes the issue is more technical than a consequence of batting-friendly IPL pitches.
“There’s been a lot of talk about how playing on flat batting pitches has spoiled the Indian batters. Even on the so-called flat pitches in the IPL, most of the Indian batters struggled against the short ball. That is more of a technical failing. With the weight on the front foot and the back foot locked, there is simply no transfer of weight to deal with a ball climbing towards the face,” he added.
The batting great also suggested that shorter boundaries in the IPL have contributed to the problem, allowing mistimed shots to clear the ropes instead of resulting in catches. He stressed that the issue needs immediate attention if India is to succeed in overseas conditions, particularly with the ODI World Cup in South Africa on the horizon.
“That said, the short boundaries are also to blame, as many of the sixes hit just about clear the boundary rope and so could be catches elsewhere. This has to be looked at urgently if India is to reclaim the ODI title on the faster, bouncier pitches in South Africa. Every ground in India can have longer boundaries, but is there the will for that? That is the question. We shall soon see.”
On the contrary, Team India started the ODI series against England strongly by winning the opening game at Birmingham.
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