ICC T20 World Cup 2022: “The Netherlands Might Not Be As Formidable As Pakistan, South Africa But India Cannot Relax Against Anybody” – Sunil Gavaskar

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar stated that Rohit Sharma and Co. can’t relax against any team in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

India National Cricket Team won their nail-biting tournament opener against arch-rivals Pakistan National Cricket Team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday with the help of Virat Kohli’s extraordinary knock, Arshdeep Singh’s sensational spell and Hardik Pandya’s all-round brilliance.

The Men In Blue will next lock horns with the Scott Edwards-led Netherlands National Cricket Team at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday, October 27.

Speaking to India Today ahead of the India vs Netherlands clash, batting great Sunil Gavaskar said:

“The Netherlands might not be as formidable as Pakistan and South Africa but India cannot relax against anybody.”

The ongoing edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has seen numerous enormous upsets as Namibia defeated Sri Lanka and Scotland defeated West Indies in the group stage. Also, Ireland recently defeated one of the tournament favourites, England, in the Super 12 stage.

If Hardik’s got a bit of a niggle, it makes sense to rest him – Sunil Gavaskar

During the same interaction, Sunil Gavaskar said that the sensible decision would be to rest Hardik Pandya for the game against the Netherlands if he has a niggle and added that Deepak Hooda should come in as his replacement. He also said that India can’t take any team lightly in the highly unpredictable T20 format.

“If Hardik’s got a bit of a niggle, it makes sense to rest him. Because, on Sunday, against South Africa, it’s going to be a big game. So, anybody who has got a bit of a niggle, you can get them a little fresh for the Sunday game. But again, it is a T20 format and you do not want to take any teams lightly. I would like Mohammad Shami to come and bowl because he has played very little cricket. I do believe he should come in and practice,” Gavaskar, who is in Australia for the ICC event, told India Today.

“If Hardik Pandya is not there, you have Dinesh Karthik coming in at number 5, and that’s why I believe that you should bring in Deepak Hooda and bat him at number 5,” Gavaskar concluded on the matter.

Also read: ICC T20 World Cup 2022: I Cursed Dinesh Karthik When I Walked In To Bat Against Pakistan At The MCG – Ravichandran Ashwin