'Its disrespectful' - Deep Dasgupta opines about Arjuna Ranatunga's recent 'B-Team' comment

Former Indian wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta has opined about the recent comments made by Arjuna Ranatunga regarding the Indian board sending a second-string team to Sri Lanka. The World Cup-winning captain said that it was an insult to Sri Lankan cricket that a second-string side will be touring them while the top Indian players are in England. 

Dasgupta, who has transitioned into a cricket expert, commentator, and columnist since his retirement from international cricket called this statement by Ranatunga ‘unfair’. He started by saying that he respects the former Sri Lanka legend but his comments are not fair. Deep explained that he understands that most of the top players are in England, but most of the players who have gone to Sri Lanka are capped players. 

He took the names of Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, and others, who are established white-ball players and have played for the first XI in white-ball matches in India. “I would not call this side a second-string side with no stretch of the imagination,” Dasgupta said on his Youtube channel.

Sri Lanka should start doing something that can help them produce players like before: Deep Dasgupta

“Secondly, I think it is disrespectful to call any national team a B side. If you are representing your national team at the highest level then calling it a B side is disrespectful,” Dasgupta further noted. He once again pointed out that most of the players who are going to be part of the first XI in Sri Lanka are capped players, with a few uncapped players within the team. 

The former cricketer also pointed out that during the pandemic we might see several other teams taking part in white-ball and red-ball cricket simultaneously in different parts of the world. “We will see this more often. We will see one team playing Test cricket while another team will play white-ball cricket somewhere. This will happen more frequently from now on,” Dasgupta added. 

The cricketer-turned sports media personnel also said that Arjuna Ranatunga has inspired Sri Lankan cricket in the past and should be going back to do the same. “It will not only help Sri Lanka cricket but also World Cricket. Sri Lanka should start doing something, which can help them produce players like they used to before,” Dasgupta concluded.