'The truth is main guys do not want to...' - Sunil Gavaskar blasts senior Indian players ahead of Test series against West Indies

Former legendary India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at the senior Indian players while talking about fitness standards. This statement from Gavaskar has come just ahead of the two-match Test series between India and West Indies. Notably, there has been a special focus on fitness in the Indian team for the last couple of years.

The Yo-Yo test by the Indian Cricket Board is one of the measures to assess the fitness level of the players. But these standards still didn’t go down well with the former legendary India batter and he raised a question on the intent of senior players in managing the workload whenever it’s about getting ready for the big assignments.

Gavaskar also targeted the current Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for his ’20-25 days’ statement after a humiliating defeat against Australia in the World Test Championship 2023 final. The former World Cup-winning star also attacked senior players for going only a few days before any big event for the preparations with the mindset ‘they will be selected anyway’.

"What kind of preparation are we talking about? Now they have gone to the West Indies. You have the example of the World Test Championship before you. Are you playing any matches? So what is this talk about 20-25 days? ... When you talk about preparation, be genuine about it. Go 15 days before, and play two warm-up matches. The main guys can rest, but the fringe players might be actually challenging those who are not doing well. He does not get an opportunity to show that he is good enough," said Gavaskar to the Indian Express.

Here's what Sunil Gavaskar said further

"The truth is the main guys do not want to go early. Because they know that come what may, they will get selected. And when you go early, they will talk about the workload. You call yourself the fittest team in the world or fitter than the early generations then how do you break down so soon? How do you have a workload issue when you play a 20-over game?”, he added later.