Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has given Indian management a stern and timely reminder following the team's defeat in the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata. Gavaskar delivered a pointed critique of the team’s selection approach after India failed to chase a sizeable target of 124 set by South Africa. Gavaskar’s overriding concern centred on what he perceives as a worrying trend: rewarding players with limited-overs reputations while overlooking those who consistently amass runs in the domestic cricket. According to him, the hard work of the Ranji Trophy remains the most accurate measure of a player’s readiness for Test cricket, and he urged the selectors to reconsider their approach when building the side for the red-ball format.

"The defeat to South Africa will hopefully open the eyes of those who matter to look at the heavy scorers in domestic cricket, who are used to playing on pitches where the ball spins and keeps low. The international players are so busy playing overseas that they do not have practice playing on domestic pitches, and so are found wanting," Gavaskar wrote in his Sportstar column.

"Test batting demands patience and, more importantly, the willingness to leave your ego in the changing room. It does not matter if you get beaten and rapped on the leg guards. You do not have to try and tonk the ball out of the ground to show who is the boss. The only boss is the one who stays humble and accepts that at this level, the bowler will beat you, and so waits a bit till the scoreable ball comes along."

Gavaskar also asserted that a true Test all-rounder is the one who can fit into the XI both as a batter and as a bowler.

"India also needs to understand the difference between a Test all-rounder and a limited-overs all-rounder. A genuine Test all-rounder is someone who could make the eleven solely as a batter or as a bowler. A player who only offers a few overs or a few runs is not what Test cricket demands. A proper batter who can chip in with the ball is fine, just as a regular bowler who can hold up an end with the bat is valuable. But selecting a player who would not make the side purely as a batter or as a bowler might work in the short term, yet it does not add real value," Gavaskar wrote.