'Having Been Bought for Crores, Some of These Youngsters Lose The Fire in Belly': Sunil Gavaskar After IND's Defeat vs WI

Team India's former Great batter Sunil Gavaskar believes that the young Indian players endured a difficult transition during the West Indies T20I series, which the visitors lost 2-3. Apart from the fourth T20I, India's batting performance in the series was below-par, as openers failed to get them off to a solid start.

As a result, India batted poorly throughout the series, with the exception of Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav, as other batters struggled in the Caribbean and Florida conditions.

The West Indies were able to expose the Indian batting despite the absence of their ace batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Gavaskar believes that a player's success in franchise cricket does not guarantee success at the international level.

"A player may perform well at the franchise level, but playing for the country is a different ball game of pressures and expectations." It is one step above, which can be too difficult for even the finest franchise performers.

How often have we seen this when Under-19 players are unable to make the transition from a boys' event to a men's competition?" Gavaskar contributed to Crichistory.com

Gavaskar underlined that senior-level cricket is an entirely different ball game than franchise or under-19 cricket.

"Yes, the kids look great playing against other kids, but when they face men, they realise that what looked like a piece of cake at the under-19 level is more like mud at the senior level." That's why so many players who looked good at the junior level have fallen short at the senior level.

"It's not just the temperament; even the skill set falls far short of what is required at the franchise level," he wrote.

The renowned hitter went on to blame certain young players for losing their fire in the belly after landing lucrative IPL contracts.

"Then, having been bought for crores, some of these youngsters lose the fire in the belly and are happy to cruise along in later years and get their contracts extended, even if it is for a lesser amount," he continued.