What did India do in five intervening days after lord’s win, asks Gavaskar
Severely critical of the Indian cricket team’s poor show against England in the third Test, former captain Sunil Gavaskar said the old habit of getting complacent after a big win seems to have affected the side during the lost match. India went down by 266 runs in the Southampton Test on Thursday after the morale-lifting triumph in the second Test at lord’s.
“We might have helped England get back the momentum. Having beaten them at their headquarter in lord’s, we had them absolutely demoralised. But I don’t know what we did in the five intervening days after that. We were sloppy on the first morning. We dropped Cook and let him get away. We need to look at our slip fielding and so many other things. There were so many misfields,” the legendary opener told NDTV.
“It used to happen to Indian teams since 1930’s but this Indian team is more professional. They should not be affected by complacency and should address the issues quickly.”
“Zero resistance” is the word that Gavaskar used to explain India’s abject surrender on the fifth and final day of the third Test while they had six wickets in hand. To lose a match like this showed zero resistance whatsoever. Apart from Ajinkya Rahane, who applied himself, none of the other batsmen could stay at the wicket. I must also mention that Jimmy Anderson bowled superb deliveries and the best batsmen in the world could have got out. But the disappointing aspect was no resistance,” said Gavaskar.
On what made Rahane look a better batsmen than his colleagues, Gavaskar said, “It’s the way he was playing. He was not trying to reach for the ball. He waited for the ball to come onto the bat and played with a straight bat. At the same time he was quick to seize on to any scoring opportunity.”
“Some of the other Indian batsmen played with hard hands and tried to reach the deliveries. I believe two people could have saved this Test match. One was Murali Vijay for the kind of form he is in and Cheteshwar Pujara, who is a long innings man.”
Gavaskar was absolutely livid with the manner in which Vijay got run out in the second innings. “That was such a waste of a wicket. There was no run in it and even Vijay knew that it would be a tight run. He was in such good form,” the veteran lamented.
He, however, said that Moeen Ali is a far better bowler than many thought that he actually was. “He is not a bad spinner but if you are expecting him to be like Graeme Swann, then you are mistaken. Swann was an outstanding bowler, who had the ability to bowl on any surface due to his flight and loop.
“But Moeen is a different kind of bowler but he also doesn’t give you too many bad deliveries to score. Having said that, this Indian team has played better spinners than Moeen Ali,” feels Gavaskar.
Gavaskar felt batting has been a major cause of concern. “They (Indian team) need to understand that batting has let them down. Had the catches been taken, the bowling would have risen to the occasion. England have utilised the conditions well. Anderson and Broad know the length and areas to bowl. They mixed it up well using the occasional short ball to their advantage.”
Illogical to play Jadeja as strike bowler: Prasanna
legendary off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna on Friday questioned India’s logic behind ignoring Ravichandran Ashwin and termed team management’s move to play Ravindra Jadeja as a strike bowler a “disastrous” one.
“Ravindra Jadeja should play in all Tests but only as a stock bowler. He is not a wicket-taker. Jadeja’s capability as a spinner doesn’t make him a strike bowler. Now if the team management forces a stock bowler to become a strike bowler, then disaster is waiting to happen,” Prasanna said on Friday.
“Ashwin should have played in all three Test matches. From my experience of playing in England, I can tell you that even if Ashwin plays at Old Trafford, he will come good at Oval, which can assist spinners. Jadeja should be used as a supporting option with Ashwin in lead role,” the 74-year-old, who has 189 Test victims from 49 Tests, feels.
Jadeja has so far taken only 8 wickets bowling 142.3 overs in three Test matches with a strike-rate of close to 18 overs for a wicket.
“Doesn’t the figures say it all. If a bowler needs more than 100 balls to get a wicket means that a batsmen is getting well settled by that time.
“Have you seen Jadeja beat the bat of any leading batsmen consistently unless there is some turn and bite on offer from the 22 yardsIJ If not then how can you solely depend on JadejaIJ” questions former great, who has often been dubbed as best off-spinner of his generation by former Australian captain Ian Chappell.
Asked what he thinks can be the reason for Ashwin’s exclusion from the playing XI, Prasanna said,”I don’t know what are the considerations while selecting a playing XI. But this shows lack of faith. You must have faith in Ashwin for him to deliver. “If Ashwin has reached 100 wickets in quickest time, there must be some reason behind it. look at England. They showed faith in that young boy Moeen and he has delivered.”