Team India faced another knockout-stage exit in the ICC tournament as they bowed out of the ongoing T20 World Cup with a 10-wicket thrashing against England in the semi-final at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday (November 10).
After the embarrassing ouster, Rohit Sharma and his men are drawing flak from the fans, media and experts alike.
Amid the backlash, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the concept of ‘workload management’ in the Indian team.
According to Gavaskar, Indian cricket needs to move on from “workload management”, arguing that the players forget such a concept while playing the Indian Premier League.
“Changes will be there. Jab aap World Cup me jeet nahi sakte, changes honge. Hamne vo dekha hai ki jo New Zealand ke liye team jaa rahi hai, usme changes hue hain. ye jo 'workload-workload' ki baatein chalti hai, Kirti aur Madan ne sahi kaha ki workload sirf Bharat ke liye khelne ke liye kyun hota hai? (When you can't win World Cup, there will be changes. The team for New Zealand has changes. But everytime we talk about this ‘workload’, why does it only happen when they play for India?),” Gavaskar said on Aaj Tak.
“Aap IPL khelte hain, poora season khelte hain, vahan aap travelling karte hain… sirf pichhla IPL 4 centres me hua tha, baaki sab jagah aap idhar-udhar daudte rehte hain. Vahan par aapko thakaan nahi hoti? Vahan workload nahi hota? Sirf jab Bharat ke liye khelna hota hai, vo bhi tab jab aap non-glamorous countries me jaate hain, tab aapka workload banta hai? Ye baat galat hai. (You play in whole season of IPL, travel from one place to other. You don't get tired there? Is there no workload? Only when you play for India, especially when you have to tour a non-glamorous country, you remember workload? This is wrong),” he added.
Gavaskar feels many cricketers will forget workload if BCCI sends out a strong message.
“Workload aur fitness saath me nahi ho sakte. Agar aap fit hai, toh workload ka sawaal kahan aaya? Ham Marathi me kehte hain, ki thoda laad karte hain, vo thoda kam karein. Ham aapko team me le rahe hain, ham aapko kaafi retainer fee bhi de rahe hain. Agar aapko workload ki vajah se aap khel nahi rahe, fir retainer fee bhi nikaalein. (If you're fit, how does workload come into picture? Stop pampering the players. You're being picked in team, you're being paid a retainer fee. If you can't play because of workload, waive off the retainer fee too),” said Gavaskar.
“Aap match nahi khelenge toh aapki retainer fee nikal jaani chahiye. Bohot saare log fir workload bhoolkar khelne aayenge. IPL shuru hone se pehle international cricket ki body hai, FICA, unhone ye hi kaha tha. Workload, workload, workload... jab IPL aaya, aur saare players IPL khelne ke liye workload bhool gaye. Changes honge, aur hone bhi chahiye. Kaun honge, vo selection committe karegi. Par aapko players ko sandesh bhejna hai. (Don't play a match, and lose your retainer fee. Many players will then forget workload and come to play. FICA had said the same thing. When IPL came, everyone forgot workload. Selection committee needs to decide on the changes, but you need to send out a strong message),” he further remarked.
Team India will now tour New Zealand for a white-ball series, comprising three T20Is and as many ODIs. Both the squads don’t feature senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.
Hardik Pandya will captain of the T20I team while Shikhar Dhawan will lead the ODI side on the New Zealand tour.
