‘Practice as much as you can’ - Sunil Gavaskar gives advice to young batters ahead of BGT 2024-25

After the whitewash against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma's India will have its sights set on the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. With a historic Test series loss behind it, India will desperately need improvement. 

Losing the NZ series already means that the side has lost their footing atop the World Test Championship standings, and with a tough Australia tour ahead of them, the situation does not look good for India. In the BGT 2024-25, there will be several inexperienced batters in the Indian lineup who will be desperate to prove themselves. India need to win the series against Australia by 4-0 to stay on the top of the WTC standings. 

Talking about the same, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar recently came forward with some advice for the batters. He advised the youngsters to practice against the pacers as much as possible to prepare for the Australia series. 

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"Just believe in yourself. Practice as much as you can. I think there is some merit in facing throwdowns. But it is more important to play regular bowling. Face the quicker bowlers. Not (Jasprit) Bumrah, of course, because Bumrah can kill you. But you can ask others to bowl from 20 yards instead of 22 yards," Gavaskar told the Indian Express.

"So, therefore, the ball comes onto the bat quickly. And you will get used to it. That is what I would say to the batsmen. In five-day games, you have to be patient and you will score runs. Australian pitches are the best pitches to bat on after the new ball is done. And nowadays, the new ball is only swinging and moving for 10-12 overs,” he added. 

I really do believe that they should have a warm-up game: Gavaskar

Furthermore, Gavaskar gave his take on the recently cancelled game between India and India A ahead of the BGT 2024-25. The former batter opined that the Indian team should not have scrapped the game and should have played it as it would have provided for good practice. 

"I really do believe that they should have a warm-up game. In the gaps between Test matches, they really should have warm-up games. Not necessarily for the senior players. But for the junior players who have never played in Australia before," said Gavaskar.