Sunil Gavaskar's Dig At India's "Needless Series", Hurt By Ranji Trophy Getting Devalued By IPL

22.10.2024 - 02:45 sports.ndtv.com

Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar said the prestigious Ranji Trophy is being "greatly devalued" due to players being pulled out of state teams to participate in other tournaments.

This season's Ranji Trophy began earlier this month but from the second round onwards, it has seen a lot of players miss out on playing in the tournament.

Apart from the ongoing Tests against New Zealand, an India ‘A' side under Tilak Varma is currently playing in the ACC Emerging Men's T20 Asia Cup in Oman.

It is followed by a two-match red-ball series against Australia ‘A' in Mackay and Melbourne, and parallelly, the Suryakumar Yadav-led T20I team will travel to South Africa for a four-match series.

cricket country Testing travelers Nathan Lyon Mitchell Starc Steve Smith Sunil Gavaskar Australia South Africa New Zealand India Oman

Till this day, the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy remains one of the most famous wins of the Indian cricket team in its Test history. Despite several front-line players like Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah missing important matches due to various reasons, the Indian cricket team conjured one of the bravest comeback in the history of cricket. This was the same series where India had lost the first game in Adelaide after being 36 all out. The series also saw sledging reach a different level with then Australia captain Tim Paine taking it to another level.

Ex-Australia Captain's Big Revelation On David Warner's Comeback. Says "Spoke To Him..."

Former Australian captain Tim Paine revealed that former opener David Warner was not serious and barely joking as he offered to come out of retirement from international cricket to help Australia end their hunt for an opener ahead of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India. Days back, Warner had offered to come back to the international cricket if Australia could not find the right opening partner for Usman Khawaja due to Steve Smith sliding down to number four after mixed performances as an opener and all-rounder Cameron Green being out of the Test summer due to a back injury.

Harbhajan Singh Namedrops Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar In Explosive 'Replacements' Verdict

Former Indian cricket team spinner Harbhajan Singh has witnessed a transition in Indian cricket between 2011-2013 when stalwarts like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman retired with Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, current coach Gautam Gambhir and him being phased out. "Look age is a factor for some in this team but then Virat and Jaddu are extremely fit guys. Yes, age, fitness and form are criteria but the questions crop up once you start losing. The onus obviously comes on seniors in the team. It happened in that phase," he recalled. But he absolutely detests the theory that certain players can't be replaced.

Josh Inglis 'In Mix' For Test Debut In Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Chief Selector George Bailey

In red-hot form, Australian white-ball wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis is "in the mix" to make his Test debut as a specialist batter in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy next month, hinted chief selector George Bailey on Monday. India, unbeaten in the marquee series on the previous four occasions, will face Australia in a five-Test series beginning in Perth on November 21. "There's no doubt that the form is really fantastic at the moment... the ability to jump back into domestic cricket and dominate has been fantastic," Bailey told reporters.

No Captain Named As Australia Announce Squad For Pakistan Series

Australia on Monday left out their Test stars for the home T20 series against Pakistan, with a new captain set to be named. The three-match T20 series next month will conclude only four days before Australia embark on the first of a five home Tests against India. Selectors rested fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, along with other Test players Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head. All-rounder Cameron Green is injured and will miss the entire Australian summer.

"Don't Talk About Australia Now": Sunil Gavaskar Schools Ex-India Star During 2nd Test vs New Zealand

The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team are in a dire strait in the Test series against New Zealand. After having lost the first Test in Bengaluru, the second Test Test in Pune too hasn't brought any good news for the hosts. New Zealand have taken a huge lead in the third innings and saving the match will be quite a task for India. In the midst of this former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has aksed all to focus on the current series rather than on the India vs Australia Test series that starts on November 22.