Gavaskar baffled by India team management's 'favouritism'

With absolutely nothing at stake in their final match of the Asia Cup against Afghanistan, India decided to make no changes to their playing XI. It was a decision that, to say the least, took former great Sunil Gavaskar by surprise. He first called the decision ‘baffling’ and then proceeded to sarcastically rip the thought process of the Indian team management to bits. Virat Kohli, at the toss, said that the decision to stay with the same team had a lot to do with showing confidence with those in the team. [caption id=“attachment_1420209” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gavaskar believes some players could have been rested. Image courtesy: BCCI[/caption] “I feel they are playing but it is a matter of getting experience. We have to stick with them so that they get a chance to play as many matches as possible.” However, Gavaskar was having none of it. “Are they not playing Pujara because if he comes good then one of their favourites cannot play? Are they not playing Pandey because they want to make sure the place of their favourite isn’t questioned the next time the team is named? What are they afraid of?” Gavaskar asked on air. Gavaskar argued that the need for change is obvious. Some of the players have been playing non-stop since the tour of South Africa and what better time to give them some rest ahead of the World T20 than in a dead rubber. Cheteshwar Pujara has been on the bench for a while now and so has Ishwar Pandey. On the tour of Zimbabwe, India didn’t give Pervez Rasool a game and now this. “These are the kind of decisions that allow complacency to creep into the team. You have a scenario where players start saying that even if I don’t play well, I will still make it to the XI,” Gavaskar said.