Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir believes that the national team cricketers should skip the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), keeping in mind the ODI World Cup, slated to be hosted by the country this year.
Speaking on the show 'Star Sports’ Road to Glory', Gambhir said that a player can choose to ignore the IPL this year in a bid to prepare for the World Cup. “If the franchise (IPL) has to suffer, then they have to suffer. Indian cricket is the main stakeholder. Not the IPL. IPL is the byproduct. So, if India goes on to win the World Cup, then this is a big occasion. So if an important player does miss the IPL, so be it. IPL happens every year, World Cup happens every four years,” said Gambhir.
India are currently playing Sri Lanka at home. Having won the T20I series 2-1, their focus will now shift to the three-match ODI series, where Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be returning after a break. Their sentiment was also echoed by the 2011 World Cup winner. “If people who are playing all three formats want to take a break, then they can take a break from T20Is. But surely not from ODI format."
“I think the biggest mistake that Indian cricket has made for the last two World Cups is that these guys haven’t played enough cricket together. Tell me how many times we have got the best eleven in the park. We haven’t," he added.
Gambhir also wants the newly-appointed selection committee to show consistency in their squads so that India's best playing XI can be chosen well before the World Cup kicks off. "Only at the time of the World Cup(2022 T20 World Cup) we decided to have the best playing eleven and unfortunately that wasn’t the best playing eleven. So these guys have to play together irrespective of the break they want to take, then the break has to happen in the T20s and not the 50-over game," said Gambhir.
