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Following the conclusion of India’s recent home assignment against Afghanistan, legendary batter and former captain Sunil Gavaskar has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to re-evaluate its cramped scheduling. Despite the Men in Blue securing a dominant 3-0 sweep in the One Day International (ODI) series and a comprehensive win in the one-off Test, the fixtures struggled to capture public imagination. Played just six days after a gruelling Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans, the bilateral series suffered from visible fan fatigue and depleted stadium attendance.
Sunil Gavaskar calls on BCCI to consider players’ welfare amid low interest in Afghanistan series
Writing in his column for Mid-Day, Gavaskar emphasized the urgent need for a mandatory one-month rest period for centrally contracted players every calendar year. He acknowledged the BCCI’s traditional role as an ‘elder brother’ to developing cricket nations like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka, noting that such tours drastically boost the financial health and competitive growth of these boards. However, the 1983 World Cup winner pointed out that this diplomatic responsibility should not come at the cost of Indian cricketers’ physical and mental well-being.
The lack of breathing room between the IPL final and the international calendar resulted in low turnout, with prominent venues like Lucknow and Chennai hosting matches in front of half-empty stands. Gavaskar argued that continuous cricket without a dedicated off-season pushes elite athletes to their limits. With India scheduled to play somewhere in the world virtually every month, structured workload management has become an absolute necessity to prevent burnout and ensure career longevity for the nation’s core players.
“Yes, BCCI is like the elder brother to countries like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka, and have always tried to help them grow on the field and boost their finances by touring these countries. However, our cricketers’ health and fitness are also crucial and there should be a clear month’s rest for our players in the year. India is blessed with talent and so you can rotate the players but that is cheapening the India cap. The cap mustn’t be given because a player replaces the undroppable player who is rested. It has to be earned,” Gavaskar wrote in his column.
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Protecting the prestige of the India cap and addressing fan fatigue
A major talking point in Gavaskar’s critique was the growing trend of resting star players, a practice he believes inadvertently devalues the national team jersey. While younger talents like Manav Suthar made impressive debuts and seniors like Shubman Gill and KL Rahul notched up centuries against Afghanistan, Gavaskar insisted that the absolute best playing XI should always represent India. He remarked that elite bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the series, miss out on adding to their career milestones when structural rotation takes precedence over continuity.
“In the Test against Afghanistan who have been honest triers but nothing more, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul scored centuries, and Manav Suthar made an impressive debut. Jasprit Bumrah was rested but wouldn’t he have liked to have added a fifer or a tenfer to his career record against this team. When India is playing, then the best team must play, unless there are injuries of course. But this resting because of workload must be avoided as much as possible. Have a look at the calendar and you will see that India is playing every month somewhere or the other,” he added.
According to the former captain, the “India cap must be earned” rather than handed out simply because an indispensable player needs a break. He suggested that developmental platforms like India ‘A’ and U-19 squads are the correct pathways for testing bench strength, leaving the senior national side to field its strongest possible lineup.
Ultimately, Gavaskar concluded that the BCCI must protect its most important stakeholders: the fans. With reports indicating that the IPL might start and finish earlier next year, he appealed to the board to use that window to gift both exhausted players and saturated viewers a clear, uninterrupted month of rest before India kicks off its next cycles against Ireland and England.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: crickettimes.com
