Sunil Gavaskar dumbfounded by India's decision to replace Bhuvneshwar with Ishant

In order to keep the series alive, the Indian team management made as many as three changes to the line-up for the second match in Highveld. While KL Rahul replaced Shikhar Dhawan as an opener, Parthiv Patel and Ishant Sharma have also handed opportunities for the second Test. However, the team decided to trade Bhuvneshwar’s incisive strength with Ishant’s extra bounce, but it hasn’t gone well with Gavaskar.

“I don’t understand why Ishant came in for Bhuvneshwar when he had taken three wickets on the opening day at Cape Town. Ishant could have replaced Shami or Bumrah but leaving him out, I don’t understand,” Gavaskar questioned as reported by PTI.

Dhawan has severely failed to prove his worth in the seaming and swinging conditions and averages a paltry 18 in the Rainbow nation. He also struggled in the last match in Cape Town and could only manage a total of 32 runs in both innings. While going by the stats, Dhawan’s exclusion seems logical, Gavaskar, though, said that he has been the scapegoat for India’s bad performance.

“I think Shikhar Dhawan is the ‘Bali ka Bakra’ (scapegoat). His head is always on the chopping board. He just needs one bad innings and he is out of the team.”