'Don't give them central contracts. You are paid for your...' - Sunil Gavaskar launches a brutal attack on West Indies players for their recent poor performances

Former legendary Indian skipper and batting great, Sunil Gavaskar has come up with a hard and fast-lined statement while talking about the recent poor performances of the West Indies. Notably, a lot of former cricketers and experts in the game felt disappointed with the failure of the West Indies to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023 in India.

The Caribbean side got knocked out of the World Cup Qualifiers 2023 after losing against Zimbabwe and Scotland. Later, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands managed to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023 in India.

Gavaskar recalled his experiences of playing in the West Indies against the former Caribbean legends of his time. He came up with some harsh suggestions to improve the situation of cricket in the Caribbean by managing their players wisely.

“It is where I went for my first tour and I know a lot of people there. I know the kind of legacy those wonderful cricketers left behind. There's a pretty laid-back temperament which is fantastic but when it comes to playing sometimes a laid-back temperament might not get you much results. To Clive Lloyds, Malcolm Marshalls, Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Michael Holdings, Garners, the wonderful era for West Indies Test cricket, every Test match that they played, was extra income,” said Gavaskar to the Indian Express during The Indian Express Idea Exchange.

Here's what Sunil Gavaskar said further on West Indies

“Today the West Indian players, whether it is Test player or T20 player, all the players all over the world are guaranteed by their central contracts, a hundred thousand dollars or whatever. But if you know the West Indian temperament and you have that much in the bank before you score a run or take a wicket, I am not too sure about a lot of them if it actually matters whether they score runs or not. Because the money is in the bank,” he added.

Later, he also came up with a piece of advice for the West Indies Cricket Board to manage the amounts and salaries of players by cutting down their central contracts. “My suggestion would be to increase the Test match fees but don't give them central contracts. You are paid for your performance. Then probably they will have a different attitude,” said Gavaskar.