No one should be guaranteed a world cup spot - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the Indian players for not performing to their fullest in the recent tours of New Zealand and South Africa. He also said that no one should be guaranteed a place in the World Cup 2015 with this kind of performances.

He said,”Of course, you cannot rule out players . What message are you giving to the existing players? That you can score 5, 10, or 20 with an occasional half century and stay on till World Cup next year. You can’t defend the World Cup like that.”

He added that its important to have youngsters in the team along with experienced players. The legendary Indian batsman said: “I believe in horses for courses. Never mind what is the age of the player. Brad Hodge is 39 and Australia brought him back for the T20 International against England. Form and not age should be the criteria for selection. But one needs to do it now as it can get late by the time you think doing it.”

“When we won the World T20 in South Africa, what experience did we have of T20 cricket? Yet, we won the championship. There are times, having fresh players can help as their enthusiasm rubs off on others.”

The Indian spinners had a torrid time in the games prior to the last match, and Gavaskar was surprised that Amit Mishra did not get a look in. He added: “I was surprised that Dhoni didn’t give Mishra a game. As a captain, he must have his potent reasons for not having Mishra in the playing XI.”