Sunil Gavaskar criticizes India's decision to cancel warm-up match
Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the Indian cricket team's decision to call off their warm-up match ahead of the five-match Test series against Australia. The team, led by Rohit Sharma, was supposed to play a practice game against India 'A' on Perth's fast and bouncy pitch. But they opted to concentrate more on net sessions and match simulation than the scheduled warm-up game.
Gavaskar questions team's preparation strategy
Gavaskar expressed his worries in a column for Mid-Day, questioning the team's preparation strategy. He wrote, "For Indian cricket's sake (I hope) whoever has taken the call to do away with the warm-up game and then reduce the match between the first and second Test against the Australian Prime Minister's XI to two days will be proven right." His statement reflects his skepticism about India's readiness for their upcoming series.
Gavaskar emphasizes importance of warm-up matches
Gavaskar stressed on the significance of warm-up matches, particularly after India's recent 0-3 loss to New Zealand. He said net practice sessions can never match the intensity of real games. "There is no better feeling for a batter to spend time out in the center and feel the ball hit the middle of the bat. No amount of net practice is ever going to replace that feeling," he wrote.
Gavaskar highlights differences between practice and real games
Gavaskar further emphasized the difference between net sessions and actual matches, saying batters know they can't bat once dismissed in a practice match. "Yes, there's a possibility that the 'A' team new ball bowlers may not go flat out because of the worry of injuring a key batter, but that's more likely to happen in the nets where the pitches are usually not as well prepared as in a match," he explained.
