Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has called for a reconsideration of the packed calendar for the Indian men’s cricket team, stating that players are "neither machines nor sugarcane to be endlessly squeezed for every drop of the juice."
In his recent column for Sportstar, Gavaskar strongly criticized the relentless, back-to-back scheduling that forces players to move from one tournament to the next without adequate recovery time.
His remarks directly follow statements from BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, who recently blamed India's growing player injury list on a grueling match volume that includes a dense international schedule heavily layered over two months of the IPL.
With the ICC set to discuss the next four-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) beginning in 2027, Gavaskar urged the decision-makers to institutionalize structural changes rather than rely on temporary player rotation.
“The recent meeting to take stock of Indian cricket did try to come to grips with the issue. Hopefully, when the ICC meeting to discuss the international cricket calendar over the next cycle of four years from 2027 takes place, the decision-makers will realise that Indian cricketers are neither machines nor sugarcane to be endlessly squeezed for every drop of the juice,” Gavaskar wrote.
The 77-year-old stressed that the India side is a by-product of Indian cricket and does not represent the entirety of the ecosystem.
“The India cricket team is not Indian cricket. The India cricket team is the by-product of Indian cricket,” he added.
Gavaskar also warned that the "never-ending" international calendar is actively putting India's domestic tournaments on the back burner, threatening the long-term talent pipeline.
While India is often praised for fielding multiple international-level squads at once, Gavaskar argued that the on-paper depth does not necessarily indicate a pipeline capable of consistently producing world-class cricketers.
“The argument that India’s bench strength is such that it can field three teams is good to make claims for the world, but the reality, as recent results have shown, is that one India team is at the moment not good enough to win much silverware. Yes, a gold in the Asian Games will once again rejuvenate the team and give it the confidence for oncoming battles, but unless domestic cricket is prioritised, the pipeline will not produce world beaters. All the best to both our boys and girls to win the gold,” Gavaskar wrote.
