'Don't Give Them Central Contracts': Sunil Gavaskar Offers Advice to Revamp West Indies Cricket Team

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar shared his views on the downfall of West Indies cricket team in recent times. West Indies have failed to live up to the expectations across formats in the past few years and the recent failure to qualify for the ODI World Cup has put them under the scanner. The

Gavaskar walked down memory lane and recalled the moments of his playing days in the Caribbean and hailed the former West Indies players including Viv Richards, Clive Llyod Andy Roberts and others.

“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,” he said during The Indian Express Idea Exchange.

However, Gavaskar pointed out the temperament of current West Indies players and questioned their approach as he suggested that having the central contracts might be a reason for that.

“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 explained at the event.

The legendary cricketer further gave advice to the Cricket West Indies for not giving the players a central contract and suggested an alternative to that.

“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 added.

West Indies lost the first Test match against India within three days after they failed to put up any fight with both bat and ball on their own soil. The hosts look unprepared for the challenge as India hammered them to start the new World Test Championship cycle on a high. The second and final Test of the series will start from Thursday in Trinidad.