Former Indian Cricketer and World cup winner Sunil Gavaskar, who is now mainly seen as an expert, analyst and commentator of cricket matches has warned as well as advised Indian media regarding opinions ahead of the ICC Cricket world cup 2023 which is expected to start from November.
India will be hosting the major event for the first time since 2011 and as you know there are fond memories of that tournament. MS Dhoni‘s six off Nuwan Kulasekara flashes in front of the eyes and Ravi Shashtri’s shout casting Echoes the ears, as a 28-year-old wait came to an end.
Since then, every host nation has gone on to win the World cup. This trend was started by India followed by Australia in 2015 and England in 2019. Many more moments are expected to arrive when the marquee event takes place during the winters.
But months before the WC, former World champion Sunil Gavaskar has asked the Indian media to hold their tongue. An event like this calls for world wide media houses as well as former players as the experts. On that note, Gavaskar has alerted the indigenous media to not take opinions from foreign players about India’s squad selection.
#CricketTwitter #ICCworldcup
Batting legend and current commentator Sunil Gavaskar cautioned Indian media not to take the opinions of the foreign commentators regarding who should be selected in the India squad for the upcoming 50-over World Cup 2023.https://t.co/JgKD7yn8BF— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) January 23, 2023
While writing for his Mid-Day column, he jotted :- “Hopefully, our media wont be going to overseas commentators asking who should be picked for India. Never forget that these commentators are loyal to their country and may actually suggest names that may not be what India needs.”
The 73-year-old shed light on the impact that foreign commentators had during the last world cup in England. He did not state the player but apparently a new comer was hyped by the over seas experts and as a result, the player was picked in the squad.
However, India did not give that specific player much game time in the WC. He pleaded Indian media to be careful before doing so as it might come out as a joke for the country’s board to hear foreign advises.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has decided to rotate a roster of 20 players for the 50-over world cup and also indicated that the door for other players to enter the team will depend upon their outstanding domestic performance in the build up of the tournament.
But is Sunil Gavaskar right about the Indian media’s habit of consulting foreign commentators?
