Sunil Gavaskar criticises India’s decision to Ditch net Practice before Australia tour

After India faced a humiliating defeat to New Zealand for the first time on home grounds after 12 long years, Indian cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar did not look pleased with the preparations of the team for the upcoming series against Australia.

This series is going to be an important one for the Indian team as they will aim to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fifth time in a row, along with also securing a historic hat-trick of series win against Australia on their own grounds. Apart from that, India needs to win four matches if they wish to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) finals.

Before the first Test match against Australia in Perth, Indian team was scheduled to play a three-day warm-up match against India ‘A’ at the iconic WACA stadium. However, the match got cancelled with India opting for centre wicket match simulation.

This decision left Sunil Gavaskar in heat, as he criticise this move and claimed that the batting in the nets cannot replicate the pressure of batting in a match.

“That is why the cancellation of the team’s warm-up game in Perth against the India ‘A’ team beggars belief. There is no better feeling for a batter to spend time out in the centre and feel the ball hit the middle of the bat. No amount of net practice is ever going to replace that feeling of flow and bat speed that one gets even after a short stay at the crease. India have invariably lost the first Test match of tours to the SENA countries. After that it’s an uphill climb which the team did successfully on the previous tour. That’s why it was important for them to play a warm-up game even if it is against their own ‘A’ team,” stated Gavaskar.

“Yes, there’s a possibility that the ‘A’ team new ball bowlers may not go flat out because of the worry of injuring a key batter, but that’s more likely to happen in the nets where the pitches are usually not as well prepared as in a match and where the bowlers bowl no-balls without any repercussion. The batters know that in the nets they can be dismissed three or more times and yet continue to bat and then play with no tension or pressure at all. So temperamentally it’s never going to be the same as playing in a proper match,” wrote Gavaskar to Mid-Day,” he added.

“For the bowlers too, getting into a proper rhythm with run-up and get confident about not overstepping is crucial. What line and length to bowl is also something that one can learn in a proper game and not in the nets. For Indian cricket’s sake whoever has taken the call to do away with the warm-up game and then reduce the match between the first and second Test against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI to two days will be proven right,” he further added.

“Even between the third and fourth Test there’s a gap of about seven days which could have been utilised to play a two-day game if not a three-day game. This would have given the guys who are struggling to get runs and wickets the opportunity to get back to form and also for those who are in the team to press a claim for inclusion in the last two Test matches,” he concluded.

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