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“Hard Hands At The Ball” – Sunil Gavaskar Reveals The Problem Surrounding Indian Batsmen In Headingley Test
Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar raised concerns over the same mistakes made by the Indian batsmen in the Headingley Test against England. In the third Test, a major middle-order collapse from the visitors subjected them to an embarrassing innings defeat against a rejuvenated English side.
As many as 15 out of the 20 Indian wickets that fell in the third Test were either caught by the ‘keeper Jos Buttler or in the slip cordon. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with in double-quick time in order to survive in English conditions, especially against the moving ball.
Sunil Gavaskar praised James Anderson and co. but also felt the batsmen needed to restrict themselves from going after deliveries outside off. Poking at balls in swinging conditions only induces edges, as witnessed at Headingley.
“That would concern everybody (the way Indian batsmen got out) because despite the fact the lines that England bowlers bowled were outstanding lines, around the fourth and fifth stump which is difficult for the batsmen, but when the lengths were a little further up, they got the wickets.”
“When you bowl short of the length, every batsman has the time to play or leave it. Once the batsmen were drawn forward, there’s not much you can do and that is where the bat speed factor comes in,” the 72-year-old said.
“That’s definitely a cause for concern” – Sunil Gavaskar
The likes of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have been excellent at negating the new ball, as they showed in the first two Tests. They left a majority of the balls, while also playing with soft hands when they were unsure of which way the ball would go.
The English pacers aren’t speedy either, as they depend on moving the ball around the 130kmph mark. Therefore, playing with soft hands would guarantee that the ball doesn’t carry to the slips in case the batsmen edge it. However, the middle to lower order has been doing the opposite, as Gavaskar explained.
“Most of the dismissals, if you have a look, it’s at hard hands at the ball. You have to give credit to the bowler, it’s a beautiful delivery. A lot of deliveries that got Virat Kohli out or Ajinkya Rahane out were good deliveries. Still, the batsmen went for it and that is where they got themselves out. That’s definitely a cause for concern,” he added.
England defeated India by an innings and 76 runs in the Headingley Test to draw level in the series. The teams head to The Oval where the next Test begins on September 2.
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