The legendary Sunil Gavaskar has slammed Team India's senior players, including captain Rohit Sharma, out-of-form star batter Virat Kohli, premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya for taking rest now and then.

Sunil Gavaskar was furious at these high-profile players for getting rested multiple times in the recent past. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya have all been rested for the upcoming three ODIs against the West Indies later this month.

Notably, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah didn't feature in last month's five-match T20I series against South Africa at home.

There have been reports in the Indian press that Virat Kohli may miss out on the T20I games against the West Indies too as he wanted a break from international cricket at a time when he has failed to revive his form in England.

Virat Kohli couldn't find his lost touch in the just-concluded T20I series against England as he could only register scores of 1 and 11 in his two innings against the Three Lions at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.

After his twin failures in the fifth Test match against the same team in Birmingham, Virat Kohli came into both the T20I games with a different mindset. The 33-year-old superstar cricketer deployed an ultra-aggressive approach in the shortest format but still failed to get going as he lost his wicket early on both occasions.

Sunil Gavaskar has been quite vocal about his opposition to giving breaks to out-of-form players and questioned the intentions of current India cricketers.

He even posed a question to the senior players, asking if they don't skip the Indian Premier League (IPL), how can they opt to take a break when they are competing for the national team.

“See I do not agree with this concept of players resting. Not at all. ‘You don't take rest during IPL, then why ask for it while playing for India? I don't agree with it. You will have to play for India. Don't talk about rest. There are only 20 overs in an innings in T20. That does not take any toll on your body. In Test matches, the mind and the body take a toll, I get that. But I don't think there is much problem in T20 cricket,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Sports Tak.

“I honestly feel that the BCCI needs to look into this concept of rest. All the Grade A cricketers have received very good contracts. They receive payment for every match. Tell me if there is any company whose CEO, or MDs get so much time off? I feel that if Indian cricket is to become more professional, a line needs to be drawn. If you want to be rested, you need to reduce your guarantees. Then you take rest, because you don't want to play. But how can anyone say that I don't want to play for the Indian team. Which is why I do not agree to the concept,” Sunil Gavaskar added.

Sunil Gavaskar, however, isn't the first cricketer to slam the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for opting out of multiple tours.

Earlier, former India pacer Karsan Ghavri and ex-opener Aakash Chopra had hit out at the seniors for the same.

“What is with all the rest? How much rest do you want? Earlier, when a player used to be out of form, he used to be dropped and picked again only when he scored runs in domestic cricket. But now whenever someone is out of form, he rests. Are you guys not worried about it?” Aakash Chopra said on his Youtube channel.

“I personally think whenever someone is our of form, he should play as much cricket is possible. When there were strict bio bubbles, there was no cricket for almost six months in 2020 from March to September. Next year again you play one half of IPL and then after gap of three-four months you played the second half. So it’s already a rest of ten months in 2-3 years. You don’t get anymore rest than this in professional sport,” Aakash Chopra added.

“It’s good that India keep on giving opportunities to players like Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson when the big players are rested. But what when these fringe players score runs. Do you tell them that they are dropped just because the big players are available now? Won’t they feel what wrong they have done?” Aakash Chopra pointed out.

Ghavri even suggested that Kohli probably has taken the break to fulfill his commercial commitments and may shoot a few advertisements during his time away from cricket.

“How much rest do Virat and Rohit need? How long did Virat bat in the Test match? Playing for India should be their number one priority. You should shoot for advertisements during the IPL, not while playing for India. You cannot ask for frequent breaks in the name of workload management,” Karsan Ghavri said in an interview with Sportskeeda.

“Players should be selected on merit. Virat has made India proud on many occasions, but drop him if he’s not in form. It’s as simple as that,” Karsan Gavri added.

“Bring in the guys who are in form. Virat Kohli is a big name, but where are the runs? How long can you play based on your past reputation? He’s still stuck on 27 Test centuries. Meanwhile, Joe Root has now surpassed him despite lagging behind until recently,” Karsan Ghavri summed up.