The Three Lions have not had an Ashes series anywhere close to what they would have liked.
It was not long ago when Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar chose to stand their ground, and not walk off by shaking hands against England in Manchester. An incident which became the talk of the town saw India draw a famous Test match against the Three Lions after being 2-1 down in the series. Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar has come out in support of the two Indian all-rounders after England’s batters failed to stand up to the expectations in the ongoing Ashes series.
The Indian veteran laid emphasis on the value of a Test match century, stating that the Indian all-rounders did the absolutely right thing by standing their ground. It was evident that the Indian duo wanted to push for their centuries in Manchester, having batted their hearts out after the game looked long gone from the visitors’ grip. Gavaskar backed Sundar and Jadeja.
The 76-year-old former Indian opener stated that Jadeja and Sundar had done the hard yards by batting in the difficult phases of the clash, and choosing to stay out in the middle was a tactical decision to keep the English players out on the field for more time. With another Test match to be played, it could have led the English players to exert more pressure on their tired legs. Safe to say that with India winning the last Test at The Oval, the decision did pay off!
“All those English players who mocked Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar when they opted to bat on and get their centuries and not accept the offer to go off the field will have realised that Test centuries don’t come every day”, wrote Gavaskar in his column.
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Just by looking at the score line, it is pretty much clear so as to the kind of series the Three Lions have had till this point. Their batters failed to live up to their expectations in the first three Tests, which resulted in the series being lost with two Tests to be played. More than anything, the batters were unable to read the situation of the game and play accordingly.
“Cricket is a great leveller, and anybody who shows arrogance as different from confidence gets to learn that very quickly”, wrote Sunil Gavaskar.
The Indian veteran believes that it all boiled down to the aggression which was shown by the English batters in the first half of the five-match Test series. That being said, Gavaskar quickly pointed out that the longest format of the game is very quick to draw level with players who do not understand the pace and situations of the game, and end up playing in the flow of aggression.
“Those who derided and mocked them then for batting on are finding in Australia that their bats have only edges or holes in the middle”, stated Sunil Gavaskar about the English batters.
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