Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar expressed strong disapproval towards the Indian team, particularly star batsman Virat Kohli, for their poor shot selection and overall disappointing performance with the bat. This led to their collapse in the opening session of the final day of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final at The Oval, where they were chasing a target of 444 runs.
Australia made history by winning the WTC title against India by 209 runs at The Oval, becoming the first team ever to clinch all major ICC trophies. The five-day contest saw Australia dominate India, ultimately securing their maiden WTC trophy in London.
India began the final day in a promising position at 164/3, with Kohli (44) and Ajinkya Rahane (20) unbeaten. However, early in the first session, Kohli made an ill-judged shot at a ball that pitched outside off stump, resulting in an edge straight into the hands of Steve Smith at slips, who took an excellent diving catch. Not only did Kohli miss out on his half-century, but this dismissal also marked the beginning of India’s downward spiral on the final day.
Gavaskar criticized the shot, labelling it as ordinary and questioned why Virat played a ball so far outside the off-stump when there was emphasis on building long innings and scoring centuries.
“It was a bad shot. It was an ordinary shot. You are asking me about it, I think you should ask Kohli. What was that shot? That was a shot outside the off-stump. We talked so much about the fact that to win a match, you need a long inning. You need a century. How are you going to make a century if you are going to play a shot so far outside the off-stump,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying on Star Sports.
The former Indian cricketer opined that Virat’s focus was on reaching his personal milestone of a half-century.
“Pretty ordinary shot [by Kohli] outside the off stump. He had been leaving till then. He flashes at one outside the off stump. Maybe he was conscious of the fact that he needed one run to get to a half-century. A lot of time it happens. You are nearing a milestone. It happened to [Ravindra] Jadeja I think. He played at a delivery he shouldn’t have when he was 48 [in the first innings],” added Gavaskar.
The Little Master did not spare anyone in his criticism. He expressed his disappointment with the entire Indian batting line-up, as they failed to hold their wickets and survive even a single session, despite having talented players yet to bat or still at the crease.
“The batting was in shambles today. It was just ridiculous what we saw today. The shot-making, we saw some pretty ordinary shots yesterday from Pujara. And today some of the shots that we saw. How do you expect a win?,” said Gavaskar.
“We did not even last a session with this batting line-up with eight wickets in hand. Come on.”
Highlighting the falling averages of players like Virat, Rahane and Pujara, Gavaskar emphasized they need to address this issue as it has been proving costly for the team. He called for measures to be taken to rectify the situation and improve the performances of these star players.
“It does not matter what the other players’ averages are. We are talking about the Indian team now. The Indian players’ averages are falling, something has to be done. The batting is the one which is costing us. Why is it happening? That is something we need to look at. You bat well in India, you are the ‘dadas’ in India, but then, some of them falter outside,” said Gavaskar.
“Is the level of coaching not what you require? Is there not much of analysis about areas where you lack? Honest self-assessment is an absolute necessity after this. One team is going to win, one is going to lose. It is how you lose, that is the thing. That hurts.
“We have also been knocked out. And we have been miserable. You cannot say that the current lot is beyond criticism. You have to be analytical about what happened out there. Was our approach right? Was our selection right? You cannot brush this under the carpet,” the Mumbaikar concluded.
