Speaking his opinion has never been a source of hesitation for Sunil Gavaskar. Recently, the former India opener questioned a contemporary cricket habit.
Gavaskar constantly highlights the fundamentals of the sport. He’s been known to get angry at batters who don’t slide their bats into the crease when taking hits. He has also expressed his dissatisfaction with the ICC’s decision to discontinue using runners in place of injured batters on multiple occasions.The former captain of India has also occasionally criticised hitters for not turning one-ball into twos and two-balls into threes. Furthermore, he dislikes hitters who give up wickets to careless shots.
Gavaskar has brought attention to how bowlers purposefully take “drinks breaks” between innings. The behaviour of fast bowlers taking breaks while fielding close to the boundary line has become very frequent, something that Gavaskar finds deeply offensive.
In addition to stressing the value of power and stamina in the game, Sunil Gavaskar called on match referees and third umpires to take decisive action against reserve players who occasionally bring refreshments onto the pitch.
“In cricket, the authorities’ willingness to look the other way is demonstrated by the contemporary practice of bowlers, particularly the rapid ones, taking a cool drink on the boundary line before they go to pitch after their over is finished. If bowlers intend to rehydrate after exerting themselves for six deliveries, why have the drinks break? In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar, who turned 75 on July 10, stated, “Keep in mind, the batter doesn’t get to have a drink after an over where they may have taken eight runs or so, which are all run.”
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“To be honest, cricket should return to the days when beverages were only allowed after an hour of play and before that only with permission from the opposition captain and umpires. After all, cricket is a game where stamina and endurance matter no matter what the format. He stated, “It became a trend, making a mockery of the drinks interval, once the umpires looked the other way and allowed one bowler to do that.”
“The third umpire and match referee should also ensure that the reserve player does not step onto the pitch to offer a drink to his teammate but stays outside the boundary line,” he said.
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