Sunil Gavaskar lambasted the Indian hitters on Sunday after they crumbled in the first session and lost the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia by 209 runs at the Oval.
“Today’s batting was a disaster. What we witnessed today was simply absurd. Particularly the shot-making. Yesterday, we witnessed some average strokes from Pujara, who you never expect to play such shot.
Perhaps someone went into his brain and said,’strike rate, strike rate’. You haven’t even completed a session. 8 wickets have failed to last a session? “Come on,” Gavaskar stated in an interview with Star Sports.
‘It was a fairly average shot,’ he remarked of Virat Kohli’s elimination. Outside the off-shelf. He wasn’t going till then.
Perhaps he was aware that he only needed one run to reach his half-century. It occurs as you are approaching a major milestone. Jadeja experienced this. He used a delivery that he shouldn’t have used at the age of 48. This happened to Ajinkya Rahane, who was on number 46. He hadn’t attempted that shot in a long time. Why do you suddenly play that shot? Because you are aware of the significance of that monument,” he continued.
“It was a bad shot,” he continued, tearing into Kohli even more. You should ask Kohli about the shot he used. He talks a lot about how a lengthy innings is required to win a match. How will you do it if you play the ball that far outside the offstump?”
“I believe that batters tend to try and do something to get to their landmark when they know they are close to it, as we saw in the first innings with Jadeja, who was batting so well on 48 and pushed his bat out when he thought he could run the ball down and was caught in the slips if he wasn’t on 48 he might not have even played that ball, he might have left it.”
Kohli was also seen chasing a delivery outside the off-stump. He was so disciplined that he thought, oh! Because you want to get there, you choose the incorrect balls and play the wrong strokes.
“It happens all the time,” the great had previously stated on commentary.
Meanwhile, this was India’s second defeat in a row in WTC finals, following a loss to New Zealand in the inaugural event in 2021.
Chasing an implausible score of 444, India began the day at 164 for 3, but quickly lost batting mainstay Virat Kohli (49), Ravindra Jadeja (0), and Ajinkya Rahane (43) to be bowled out for 234 in 63.3 overs.
Scott Boland (3/46) was the finest bowler on display, dismissing Kohli and Jadeja in a single over to put the game out of reach.
Nathan Lyon (4/41) had the best stats, mopping up the tail in a flash.
