Sunil Gavaskar Rubishes Associate Cricket Records: Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that the records created between associate cricket nations should not be counted if no full member nations are playing. This comes amidst many new records being created by teams and players from associate nations.
Gavaskar, who was the first batter to score 10,000 Test runs, is known to dish out some hot takes once in a while, with this being the latest one. In a recent column for the Mid Day, he wrote,
Sunil Gavaskar Rubishes Associate Cricket Records
“Sure, these games are played between countries and so are called internationals, but to equate the performances here with those that have taken place between full member countries and calling them records is a joke. They can be called List A internationals or some such, and their records be kept separate from those scored between full member countries and in World and Asia Cup games.”
What he surely meant by these statements is that the standard of associate cricket is not on par with full ICC member teams, which is true. So the matches between these associate teams can be massively lopsided, as two teams of vast differences in quality can play one another, resulting in records being broken.
One such record was created by Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee, who scored the quickest 50 in T20 cricket, reaching the milestone in mere 10 deliveries against a lowly Mongolian side in the 2023 Asian Games. With the quickest way to reach the target taking 9 deliveries, breaking this record is almost impossible.
The record was previously held by Yuvraj Singh, who scored 50 runs in 12 deliveries against England in the 2007 World T20. And like Yuvi did in that game, Aerie scored six saves in an over during his record-breaking inning as well.
Check Out: Sunil Gavaskar Rubishes Associate Cricket Records
Similarly, another seemingly unbreakable record made in that game is of the highest T20 score, as Nepal scored 214 runs in 20 overs in that game.
The issue with keeping records from such matches is that there is no measure of the difference in quality between these teams. While full member nations, of which there are only 12, too have differences in quality, we know that even the lower-level team is competent. But that is not the case in associate cricket. In the Nepal vs Mongolia game, while Nepal is a decent Asian side that has also played in T20 World Cups, Mongolia is the 82nd-ranked team in the world among the 90 or so nations that play T20 cricket.
“The Qualifiers simply cannot be on par with the internationals between full member countries. Someone much more intelligent than me can find a nomenclature for those games to differentiate it and the sooner it is done, the better for the game,” Suunil Gavaskar continued in the same column.
India barely plays any cricket with associate nations, with their last such match being in the 2024 T20 World Cup Super Eight stage against the USA.
Check Out: Sunil Gavaskar Rubishes Associate Cricket Records
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