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KEY TAKEAWAYS: - Sunil Gavaskar slammed the BCCI's relentless cricket calendar, saying players are being squeezed like "machines and sugarcane" without rest. - Gavaskar argued that the Indian team is merely a by-product of Indian cricket, warning that ignoring domestic cricket will prove counterproductive. - The legend called for reinstatement of BCCI's Technical and Fixtures Committees, drawing on experienced former players to rebalance the ecosystem. Sunil Gavaskar lashes out at BCCI over gruelling schedule and player workload crisis Sunil Gavaskar has had enough of watching Indian cricketers run ragged, and he hasn't held back in saying so. In a column for Sportstar, one of India's most celebrated former captains came out swinging against the relentless pace of the modern cricket calendar, and made the case, in his typically direct way, that something has to give before the ecosystem breaks down completely. Cricket's administrators, he says, keep treating Indian players as an unlimited resource, available to play, travel and perform at the highest level, week after week, format after format, with barely a moment to breathe. He's had enough of it. "The decision-makers will realise that Indian cricketers are neither machines nor sugarcane to be endlessly squeezed for every drop of the juice," he wrote, ahead of the ICC meeting on the upcoming four-year international calendar from 2027. His column came in the immediate aftermath of a BCCI review meeting that tried to grapple with the very same issue: a mountain of matches, a rising injury list, and a team that, despite supposed bench strength, has struggled to win silverware consistently. BCI/Creimas Domestic cricket is being sacrificed, warns Gavaskar The injury crisis eating into India's squads is, in Gavaskar's view, directly connected to what happens at the domestic level, or more precisely, what's increasingly not happening there. Ranji Trophy matches get squeezed out. Red-ball cricket takes a back seat to white-ball commitments and the consequences, he argues, will be felt down the line. "The India cricket team is not Indian cricket. The India cricket team is the by-product of Indian cricket. A strong team will come from a strong domestic structure. Indian cricket is the entire ecosystem that envelops junior and senior cricket in all the formats for both men and women. If that ecosystem is strong, then the Indian team will be strong. Ignoring domestic cricket to focus on international cricket will prove counterproductive in the end." MORE: India receives fitness boosts including Bumrah ahead of AFG T20Is, Rana status unclear Gavaskar was particularly insistent about the importance of Test and red-ball cricket as the foundation for producing genuine match-winners. He pointed to the current India squad as evidence and wrote that almost every player in it, he noted, came through first-class cricket's fire. "Most importantly, if red-ball cricket is neglected, then the chances of producing top-class players will reduce considerably. Look at the current Indian teams, and you will find that just about every player has come through the fire of red-ball cricket. Red-ball cricket gives a grounding that white-ball cricket hardly ever does." He also acknowledged that a gold medal at the Asian Games would provide a confidence boost for the team in the near term, something the squad will be aiming for in Japan, but was clear that short-term wins can't substitute for structural fixes. MORE: 'Blind slogging without awareness!': Fans criticise Sooryavanshi's lack of patience Gavaskar calls for the return of BCCI's governance committees Perhaps Gavaskar's most concrete suggestion was institutional. He called for the revival of the Technical Committee and Fixtures Committee that existed in an older version of the BCCI. These were bodies staffed by experienced former players, umpires and administrators who understood the ecosystem from the inside and could make informed decisions about scheduling and structure. "Something similar needs to be done, drawing on such experience and expertise. The Indian cricket ecosystem is slightly skewed at the moment, and this would help rebalance it," he wrote. MORE: SC cracks the whip! CJI asks BCCI why the NSG Act 2025 shouldn't govern them BCCI/Cremais Gavaskar is right, and the timing of this column matters Gavaskar choosing this particular moment to write this column isn't a coincidence. India just had a major BCCI review meeting. The ICC calendar discussions are approaching. Injuries have been piling up throughout the year. The bench strength argument, which gets trotted out whenever someone raises workload concerns, has been quietly undermined by the fact that India's second-choice players haven't exactly lit the world on fire either. His central point that the Indian team is a by-product of Indian cricket, not the other way around, should be framed and put on the wall of every BCCI committee room. The pipeline produces the team, and if we destroy the pipeline by treating it as secondary to broadcast commitments, you'll have a very different-looking India side within a decade. The sugarcane metaphor is colourful, but it's not far off, as you can only squeeze so much before there's nothing left. For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) pages.