Photo via Hindustan Times

Is the three-format cricketer dying? Gautam Gambhir's warning finds support in India's changing selection map

India national team head coach Gautam Gambhir recently shared his perspective with JioStar regarding the changing landscape of international cricket, noting that multi-format athletes will become increasingly scarce due to heavy scheduling demands and specialized team preparation. To evaluate this trend empirically, data analysts introduced the Three-Format Dependency Index, calculating participation rates across red-ball and white-ball fixtures to determine how heavily national squads rely on individual players in all disciplines.

Historical metrics illustrate how rare truly ubiquitous performers have been across different calendar years. 6 while featuring heavily across all three international categories, whereas subsequent years such as 2022 showed Rishabh Pant leading the national side with a score of exactly 50, followed by teammates like Virat , , and Axar Patel as team management began balancing resources more selectively.