Sunil Gavaskar gives nod for practice games over intra squad games following India’s loss in Centurion Test

Sunil Gavaskar has given his opinion on practice games and intra-squad games. Following India’s loss in the Centurion Test against SA, Gavaskar has given the nod for practice games over intra-squad games. The former Indian cricketer felt that players might not be fully prepared after playing intra-squad games, which is not the case while preparing for the practice game against the South Africa A team.

Gavaskar thought that pacers might not bowl at their full capacity for India while bowling for the side in an intra-squad game. Sunil felt that it might hamper the practice of the pacers, which is not ideal going into a big tour. The little master added that the pacers might be scared to bowl bouncers to their batters fearing the consequences of the same. Indian bowlers were highly ineffective in the first Test against SA.

Gavaskar felt that the pacers were not at their best in the Test. “You should play practice matches instead of intra-squad games. Fast bowlers may not bowl to their full capacity in intra-squad matches, which can affect the quality of practice. Would they bowl bouncers, as they would be scared about injuring their batters,” said Gavaskar. Most of the Indian pacers operated in poor lengths in the game.

‘The word ‘workload’ should be removed from Indian cricket’s vocabulary’ – Sunil Gavaskar

The former Indian captain added that India should have rather played South Africa A than playing an intra-squad game. Gavaskar said that the term ‘workload’ must be removed from the dictionary of Indian cricket. It is interesting to note that India A played a practice match against South Africa A and played an intra-squad match among themselves before the Centurion Test.

“It would be preferable to play against the South Africa A team or have two or three matches against a county or a state, instead of the current schedule of playing only Test matches with a gap of seven days in between. The word ‘workload’ should be removed from Indian cricket’s vocabulary,” added the former Indian cricketer. India will be playing the 2nd and final match of the tour at Cape Town.