Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid for underutilising veteran off-spinner R Ashwin. He was not happy with the way India used him in the first session of the Day 2 of the Indore Test.
India suffers disappointing loss in the Indore Test against Australia
Australia made a staggering comeback in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 as they pounded India by 9 wickets in the Indore Test to mark their first win of the series. Losing the toss turned out to be in their favour as bundled out India for just 109 runs in the first innings.
Matthew Kuhnemann was the pick of the bowlers as he picked a five-wicket haul to put his side in the front seat. Whereas Nathan Lyon (3) and Todd Murphy (1) struck as well and put India under tremendous pressure. But after that Usman Khawaja (60) batted excellently well and smashed his second half-century of the season.
His innings along with a valiant contribution from Marnus Labuschagne, who scored 30 runs put Australia on top. But Indian bowlers came back strongly and on account of Ravindra Jadeja’s four-wicket haul and three-wicket hauls by Umesh Yadav and R Ashwin bundled them out for 197 runs.
Sunil Gavaskar said, "I'd like India's men's team to win the WTC Final and the ODI World Cup this year". (To Sportstar).
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 23, 2023
Indian batters then yet again failed to get going as they lost wickets in clusters and were under immense pressure. Cheteshwar Pujara held the fort with his half-century but that wasn’t enough as the hosts could manage just 163 runs, setting a target of just 76 runs.
Although Australia lost Usman Khawaja on the second ball of the innings. But Travis Head (49*) and Marnus Labuschagne (28*) took matters into their own hand and stitched an unbeaten 78 runs partnership to win the game for their side.
Sunil Gavaskar lashes out at Indian management for underutilising R Ashwin
After Australia, bundled out India for just 109 runs, the visitors batted extremely well on Day 1 and the first hour of Day 2. But with two right-handers on the cease, R Ashwin wasn’t brought into the attack early.
He was brought into the attack just before the drinks break. By then, Peter Handscomb and Cameron Green had taken Australia’s lead to over 75.
Gavaskar was left amazed by this move and he slammed Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid for not treating R Ashwin well. Speaking during the game he said:
“I don’t understand the focus on match-ups by Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. R Ashwin wasn’t given the ball right from the start and he bowled just before the drinks break. Ashwin got the wicket of Handscomb. He is a match-winner and has taken 450+ Test wickets.”
The series between India and Australia currently stands at 2-1. The third game of the series is slated to take place on 9th March in Ahmedabad.
