Legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar hopes that the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season doesn’t end up erasing the memory of the recent ODI defeat against Australia. IPL’s glitz and glamour has hogged the nation, although Gavaskar is hoping for an improved showing for the Indian players after the 16th edition of the lucrative T20 league.
Team India defeated Australia in Mumbai in the first ODI of the series as they looked to prepare for the ODI World Cup 2023 later this year at home, however, the subsequent defeats in the two matches that followed, in Visakhapatnam and Chennai meant that the Men in Blue lost an ODI series at home after a gap of four years.
Gavaskar felt that if not for the IPL 2023 season, the magnitude of the series defeat could have been much worse.
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“India losing a one-day series at home after four years should have made headlines. That it didn’t was because everybody’s attention was on the soon-to-commence Indian Premier League," said the veteran.
“Maybe not everybody because the support staff of the Indian team — coach Rahul Dravid and his colleagues, who cannot be linked with any IPL franchise — will have the whole of the IPL to look at the areas that need improvement," he added.
Gavaskar also insisted that Indian players should come back motivated after the IPL 2023 season.
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“The glitz and glamour of the finest T20 league in the world, it is hoped, will not erase the memory of the series loss. The loss should rankle and make the players motivated to get their back on the opposition again," wrote Sunil in his column for Sportstar on Thursday.
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted a key area of concern for the Men in Blue, their batting strength Gavaskar feels has taken a dip in all formats.
“What the loss showed was that the batting certainly needs to be looked at. If anything, Indian batting isn’t as reliable as earlier. The bowling has come on very well, and fielding overall has improved too," he wrote.
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“There are far too many batting collapses in all formats of the game, and that is a cause for concern. The openers lay down the foundation, but this is where the team has struggled in recent times," Gavaskar added.
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