Cricket News

Sunil Gavaskar speaks about what West Indies cricket could do to reinvent itself after missing out on 2023 ODI World Cup

West Indies did not have a great first Test match against India as the game finished within three days. The Men in Blue trounced the Men in Maroon in a big win by an innings and 131 runs. The men from the Caribbean succumbed to the Indian unit who fired in all cylinders throughout the Test match. This was their second heartbreak after they failed to qualify for the ODI World Cup in India.

They had a very disappointing campaign in the qualifiers losing to sides like Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Scottland.  The Men in Marron’s performance across formats has been appalling and Sunil Gavaskar at an event suggested some fixes that could be implemented. The West Indies players at present have gone down the franchise cricket route and have become less and less available to play for their national sides. The nightly West Indies which one two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 appeared to staring down the barrel.

It does not matter whether they score the runs, because the money is in the bank – Sunil Gavaskar

“It is where I went for my first tour and I know a lot of people there. I know the kind of legacy those wonderful cricketers left behind. There’s a pretty laid-back temperament which is fantastic but when it comes to playing sometimes a laid-back temperament might not get you much results. To Clive Lloyds, Malcolm Marshalls, Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Michael Holdings, Garners, the wonderful era for West Indies Test cricket, every Test match that they played, was extra income,” Gavaskar said at The Indian Express Idea Exchange.

One of the solutions that Gavaskar offered to fix the crisis unfolding in West Indies cricket was to remove all central contracts.  Their salaries would be handed out to them purely on a performance basis. “Today the West Indian players, whether it is Test player or T20 player, all the players all over the world are guaranteed by their central contracts, a hundred thousand dollars or whatever. But if you know the West Indian temperament and you have that much in the bank before you score a run or take a wicket, I am not too sure about a lot of them if it actually matters whether they score runs or not. Because the money is in the bank,”  Gavaskar added.

“My suggestion would be to increase the Test match fees but don’t give them central contracts. You are paid for your performance. Then probably they will have a different attitude.” he further explained. The Men in Maroon will be hoping that things become better shortly for them. The T20 World Cup in 2024 will be held in the West Indies and the USA,