June 23, 2023 
By India Today Sports Desk: Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has been left furious with the squad announcement of the Indian Test team for the West Indies series. India are set to play a two match Test series between 12-25 July for which top India players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja will be travelling to the Caribbean islands.
Gavaskar in an exclusive interview with India Today has vented his frustration over the selection and has said that top India players are not getting enough rest ahead of the all important ODI World Cup 2023, which is set to be played in India in the months of October and November.
"Give them a break, give them a complete break. Look, they have finished on the 12th of June, give them a break till 20, 25th of July. I mean no Test matches, no travelling either. Now apparently this team is going to go for warm-up matches from the 1st or 2nd of July. So how many day's break have they had? Barely 20 days? Why not give them a 40-day break," Gavaskar lashed out on India Today.
"Give them a complete 40 day break so when they comeback for the one days and the new season totally fresh," he further added.
The former India batter has been vocal for more rest for the top India players who play all formats of the game. Gavaskar had earlier said that India players should take rest during the latter parts of the Indian Premier League to keep themselves fresh ahead of the World Test Championship Final.
The former captain has also said that the selection has demeaned Ranji Trophy and the players who perform in that tournament. Gavaskar has taken the example of Sarfaraz Khan and has said that the batter's performances in the domestic format should be recognised else there will be no point of playing such tournaments.
“Sarfaraz Khan has been scoring at an average of 100 in all past three seasons. What does he have to do to be picked in the squad? He might not be in the XI, but you pick him in the team," Gavaskar said.
"Tell him that his performances are being recognised. Otherwise, stop playing Ranji Trophy. Say, it’s of no use, you just play IPL and think you are good enough for the red ball game as well,” the former India captain concluded.
India’s Test squad for West Indies
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini
July 20, 2024 
