'Some Indian batters .....' - Sunil Gavaskar questions India's preparation for upcoming Test series against England

The former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar provided his insights on the decision of certain Indian batsmen to participate in the T20I series against Afghanistan instead of engaging in the Ranji Trophy. Gavaskar suggested that choosing to play in the domestic first-class tournament would have been a wiser decision for players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill, particularly with the upcoming five-match Test series against England commencing on January 25.

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The former India captain emphasized the importance of the Ranji Trophy as a crucial platform for skill development and regaining form. He pointed out that numerous batters faced challenges in the previous Test series against South Africa. Considering that the Afghanistan series is the last international assignment before the 2024 T20 World Cup and the presence of injuries to key white-ball players, Gavaskar believes that participating in the Ranji Trophy would have been beneficial for the batters to fine-tune their game before the crucial Test series against England.

"Would it have been better for some Indian batters to have played a couple of Ranji Trophy games to tune themselves for the Test series against England? Apart from KL Rahul, who scored one of the finest Test centuries seen in the first Test match in Centurion, and Virat Kohli, who batted well without quite getting to a century, the other Indian batters had a forgettable four innings in South Africa. We will, of course, see in the coming weeks whether they should have played the T20 internationals against Afghanistan or a Ranji Trophy game," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

Team India to start training camp from January 20

The former India head coach, Rahul Dravid has announced that the team will commence its preparations for the crucial Test series against England with a training camp starting on January 20 in Hyderabad. This declaration follows India's impressive clean sweep in the T20I series against Afghanistan, culminating in a thrilling Double Super Over showdown in Bengaluru on January 17.

The Test regulars, comprising captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, and Avesh Khan, will enjoy a brief two-day break before reconvening for the training camp in Hyderabad. These players are pivotal to India's aspirations in the upcoming home Test series against England and aim to enhance their position in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle after encountering challenges at the start of the competition.