Sunil Gavaskar demands a major change in Indian cricket. Check details

Team India has been preparing for a two-match T20I series against Ireland, scheduled to begin on June 26. This will be the team's first series under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer. Following this, the Indian team is set to play five T20Is during the England tour, which significantly enhances the importance of the Ireland series. However, the team suffered a major setback before the series even began, as star all-rounder Nitish Reddy was ruled out due to injury. The BCCI has recently announced Suryansh Shedge as his replacement.

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has expressed concern over the hectic schedules that keep Indian players constantly occupied with multi-format series and the IPL. He suggested that players should get longer breaks amidst their busy calendars; specifically, he noted that after a demanding tournament like the IPL, players should have received a one-month rest to rejuvenate and prepare for international cricket. He also acknowledged the impact on fans, noting that they, too, get fatigued after long tournaments, leading to a decline in their interest in bilateral series.

While Sunil Gavaskar acknowledged the BCCI's efforts to support teams like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe by organising matches against them, he raised concerns about the frequent changes to the squad. According to him, constantly rotating players across series diminishes the prestige associated with the Indian cap.

"Yes, BCCI is like the elder brother to countries like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka, and have always tried to help them grow on the field and boost their finances by touring these countries. However, our cricketers' health and fitness are also crucial and there should be a clear month's rest for our players in the year. India is blessed with talent and so you can rotate the players but that is cheapening the India cap. The cap mustn't be given because a player replaces the undroppable player who is rested. It has to be earned," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid day. 

"In the Test against Afghanistan who have been honest triers but nothing more, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul scored centuries, and Manav Suthar made an impressive debut. Jasprit Bumrah was rested but wouldn't he have liked to have added a fifer or a tenfer to his career record agaTeam India has been preparing for a two-match T20I series against Ireland, scheduled to begin on June 26. This will be the team's first series under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer.inst this team. When India is playing, then the best team must play, unless there are injuries of course. But this resting because of workload must be avoided as much as possible. Have a look at the calendar and you will see that India is playing every month somewhere or the other," he added. 

Gavaskar's statement holds a great deal of truth. Team India's players have been occupied with a packed cricket schedule always. This year, the Men in Blue have already played against South Africa and New Zealand in white-ball series, participated in the 2026 T20 World Cup and IPL 2026, and competed in a home series against Afghanistan; furthermore, following tours of Ireland and England, India is set to play a Test series against Sri Lanka.

Consequently, players often need to be rested for workload management, yet there are those who play across all three formats and are constantly in action. This relentless schedule exposes them to the risk of injuries—a list that includes ODI and Test skipper Shubman Gill, T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and legendary batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.