‘It is very important that the core plays all matches’ - Sunil Gavaskar’s message to Indian team en route to 2023 World Cup

After missing out on the T20 World Cup title, team India has now completely shifted its focus to the ODI World Cup scheduled to take place at home next year.

After taking a break from the New Zealand tour, senior pros like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli are back with the squad for the Bangladesh series, and following the same, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar mentioned about the importance of building a core team ahead of the mega tournament next year.

Prior to this ongoing first ODI between Bangladesh and India, the Men in Blue had played 27 ODIs since 2021. India’s skipper Rohit Sharma had featured in nine of those games and KL Rahul had played ten out of the 27 games. Former skipper Virat Kohli had represented the side in 11 of those games.

Gavaskar believes that the Indian players shouldn’t focus on taking breaks often and instead stick with the team to build a strong squad for the tournament. He advised that the management should not give too much of break to the players. He believes that in order to win the World Cup, the team needs to gel well in the time that’s left.

“I hope there is not too much chopping and changing. I also hope there is not too much of giving a break now. Then the combination takes a long time to gel when you come into the World Cup. And then in World Cup, there is no matches where you can afford to lose. So it is very important that the core plays all matches.

Yes, there will be an odd player coming in somewhere when you need an extra bowler or a batter. But the core has to play every single one-day game. No rest. You are playing for India. No rest. You want to win the World Cup. And for that, you need that combination to be absolutely gelling every single game,” said the 73-year-old.