 "Sunil Gavaskar feels Indian batters lack the skills to bat on tough spinning pitches. Images: PTI")
Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar delivered a non-nonsense verdict after India succumbed to an embarrassing 30-run loss to South Africa in the first Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. While the first Test lasted just three days due to the unpredictable dry pitch that offered uneven bounce and sharp turn, Indian batters disappointed in equal measure.
Over the course of two innings, the highest individual score for an Indian batter was 39 by KL Rahul as the team was bowled out for just 93 in a 124-run chase on Day 3. India were also handicapped by the fact that captain Shubman Gill could only bat for three deliveries in the first innings before being ruled out due to a neck injury .
Gavaskar questions Indian batters after Kolkata collapse
Analysing the poor performance of Indian batters at home on a spin-friendly pitch, Gavaskar lambasted them for not playing domestic cricket. He said that unfamiliarity with Indian pitches among the Indian batters is a result of their not playing in the Ranji Trophy.
“A lot of our players do not play domestic cricket. If you play domestic cricket, you will get to play on such pitches, right? Because even at the domestic level, teams are trying to get the points so that they qualify for the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy, which means that there will be pitches where the ball will grip and turn a little bit,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
“But none of our players are playing that. None of our current players. How many of our current players actually deign to go down and play Ranji Trophy?”
Gavaskar also asked the Team India management and BCCI selectors to pick players who play domestic cricket and can face the challenges of different tracks.
“No, they don’t because there’s this word called workload. Workload is the word. They don’t want to play. They don’t want to play. They only want to play in the Ranji Trophy if they are out of form. Otherwise, they don’t want to play. So that is the answer. Maybe you want to look at, you know, preparing a pitch where the ball will grip and turn a little bit. Then you want to pick guys who are playing domestic cricket. We do not really want to play guys who are playing international cricket because they don’t have the practice against such kind,” he added.