Rest assured, Sunny’s right!

The struggling Virat Kohli along with Rohit Sharma Jasprit Bumrah Hardik Pandya Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik will not be part of the ODI squad for a threematch series in the Caribbean later this monthIn light of this batting legend Sunil Gavaskar expressed his displeasure over players being rested for India duty while there is no question of them asking for a break when they play the Indian Premier League for their respective franchisesldquoSee I do not agree with this concept of players resting Not at all You donrsquot take rest during IPL then why ask for it while playing for India I donrsquot agree with it You will have to play for India Donrsquot talk about restrdquo Gavaskar said on Sports TakPoint made It must be remembered that Gavaskar played in an era where players taking a break from the game was unheard of Well almost because you had a few players like Englandrsquos Geoff Boycott who didnrsquot play for his country from 1974 to 1977 and Australian great Greg Chappell who skipped the 1981 Ashes in EnglandGavaskar himself was an enduring champion who missed only four Tests in his 125Test careermdashthree against the West Indies in 197475 due to a finger injury suffered during a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai and one against Pakistan in 198687 He decided not to play the second Test of that series in Kolkata for ldquopersonal reasonsrdquo while media reports suggested that it could have been because he felt illtreated by fans at the Eden Gardens previously The decision not to play the Test against Pakistan marked the end of Gavaskarrsquos record run of 106 consecutive Tests His fellow batting titan and brotherinlaw Gundappa Viswanath figured in 86 Tests on the bounce Georgetown 1971 to Karachi 1983In a tribute for Sportsweek magazine March 1117 1986 former national selector and Team India manager positions he held before going on to become chairman of selectors and BCCI president late Raj Singh Dungarpur touched upon his continuous pursuit which made Gavaskar so great ldquoSunil Gavaskar has never missed a series never chose his opponents as did his nearest contemporary rival Geoff Boycott He also carried the mantle of being the best batsman in the side and I am sure as was the case with Sir Len Hutton the bowlers got an extra yard of pace because seeing the back of such a great batsman was always the objective of the bowler concernedrdquoBoycott who is mentioned by Raj Singh above played his last prebreak Test against India at Old Trafford in 1974ldquoWhen I took stock of my situation I realised to my horror that the drive and desire to play for England had gone There was no satisfaction in it very little involvement even less pleasuremdashand despite what anybody may say they have always been very important sources of my motivationrdquo wrote Boycott in The AutobiographyBoycott missed 30 Tests before his comeback Test at Trent Bridge against Greg Chappellrsquos Australians in 1977 Talking about Chappell a good part of his team may have been distracted by what they were soon to be part ofmdashKerry Packerrsquos World Series Cricketmdashbut did he visualise not being part of another Ashes series in England Probably notChappell made himself unavailable for the 1981 Ashes which came after a turbulent 198081 Australian summer It was this very season in which he ordered brother Trevor to bowl an underarm delivery that would prevent New Zealand from earning a tied result in the triangular series match As expected Chappell was slammed from all quarters including by brother IanHe was exasperated by the poorquality Melbourne Cricket Ground pitches and India won the last Test of the series for the threematch series to end 11 ldquoThe events of February 1981 underarm controversy didnrsquot bring me to the decision making himself unavailable for the 1981 England tour but they did cement it in my mindrdquo Chappell wrote in Fierce Focus At the heart of Chappellrsquos reasons for not touring was the need to spend time with his young familyThe need to be with the family cannot be a reason for the current stars deciding to pick and choose tours because the Board generally permits players to travel with their families And while we cringe when we read about players opting for a rest when it comes to India duty and are up and ready for IPL games it shouldnrsquot be forgotten that1 The IPL is a BCCIorganised tournament that the Board and its supporters take a lot of pride in2 Several series are held to fill the coffers of the Boardother boards and to align with commitments made to the official broadcastersMeanwhile some cases of lsquorestrsquo will be a euphemism for being lsquodroppedrsquo and inadequate information in BCCI press releases will continue to give one the impression that Indian cricket is one big mystery trainmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper