'Team was without captain, vice-captain and coach for the first two days in Australia' - Sunil Gavaskar questions India's planning during BGT

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is taking drastic steps in the aftermath of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy debacle which saw Rohit Sharma and Co. being ousted from the race to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The players have been asked to play domestic cricket when they are on national duty. There have been regulations imposed on players' wives and family members.

In the middle of the alterations, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar said that everyone shouldn't forget India's shortcomings in Tests of late by focusing on the white-ball assignments lined up in the coming months.

"With two back-to-back Test series losses, and bad ones too, there's a dull feeling about the rest of the international season. The excitement that is usually there in anticipation of a new series doesn't seem to be there, and the listlessness that one saw on the field seems to have been transmitted to the fans too," Gavaskar wrote in a column for Sportstar.

"The first decision to take in such a situation is whether to look at the immediate future or take a long-term view of how to get Indian cricket rocking again. The next few months are all going to be about limited-overs cricket and the IPL. White-ball performances should not blind us to the deficiencies in Test cricket. These need to be addressed too, as the new cycle for the World Test Championship final begins with the five-Test match series against England from mid-June," Gavaskar added.

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The former India captain said that a very wrong message was sent by the Indian team at the start of their tour of Australia in November last year.

"The mistakes that were made in Australia should not be repeated. The team should arrive in England in one group and not in four batches as was done in Australia. For the first two days in Australia, the team was without captain, vice-captain and coach. What kind of a message does it send to the home team?" Gavaskar asked.

"That here's a team that has arrived with no leadership group and can be easily broken with a few tough performances. Surely the BCCI will not allow this to happen again. Yes, the odd player who is recovering from injury can join the team later, but the leaders must be the first to arrive to make a statement that the team is ready for battle," he added.

India will return to the longest format in June when they take on England in a five-match Test series. Gavaskar urged the Indian team to play several warm-up games before this tour.

"Now that India hasn't qualified for the WTC final, there's an additional week for the team to acclimatise by playing some practice games. English conditions mean that the ball will swing in the air and seam after pitching," he wrote. 

"However much one practises in the nets, the knowledge that even if a batter gets out a few times in the net, he can carry on batting doesn't make for good mental preparation. Never mind if the opposition for practice matches isn't top class; the runs scored and wickets taken in a match will boost the confidence considerably."