India’s bowlers put the opposition down only for the batsmen to mess it up, says Sunil Gavaskar

England bowler Moeen Ali, who appeared to be on a wicket-taking spree, picked up nine wickets in the fourth Test at Southampton, where India lost for the third time by 60 runs, after losing at Edgbaston and Lord's. Sunil Gavaskar felt that the good work of Indian bowlers was messed up by the Indian batsmen.

“It’s been a story of missed opportunities here in England too as India lost a chance of creating history by coming back from a 1-2 deficit and win the series. Like in South Africa, India’s bowlers put the opposition down only for the batsmen to mess it up,” Gavaskar wrote for TOI.

“The shining exception on both tours has been the skipper Virat Kohli who has looked from a different planet altogether as he has made batting look like a walk in the park. Yes, even in a park, one comes across the odd rough patch and obstacle, but he has skirted round that with ease and with over 500 runs, has shown the doubters that he is by far the best in the world,” he added.

Gavaskar also felt the moment Kohli is dismissed, the whole batting line up seems to collapse after him. According to him, Kohli hardly gets any support from his fellow batsmen. Reflecting on the ineptness of India batsmen against Moeen Ali, he stated that it is a difficult thing to accept as the Indian batsmen are supposed to be efficient against spin bowling.

“Unfortunately, he has had little support from the others and so, like in South Africa, the moment he is out, the rest of the batting collapses like the proverbial deck of cards. Sure, the ball has moved much more, but by stubbornly not playing practice games, the team has denied itself the chance of getting good match practice against the moving ball,” he wrote.

“Then, there was the ineptness against Moeen Ali which was harder to stomach especially as Indians are supposed to be good players of spin bowling. Where was the use of the feet to get to the pitch of the ball? Too much white ball cricket with its stand and hit method is ruining batting techniques,” Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar has heaped praise of the Indian bowlers, especially seamers. He further said that the Indian batsmen can try and redeem themselves at the Oval, where the fifth Test will be held.

“No praise can be too high of our seamers who have bowled their hearts out. Oval provides a good pitch for the batsmen to salvage some pride, but it won’t be easy if the conditions remain overcast and as long as the bat speed is not curtailed, the struggles will continue,” he wrote.

“The Oval Test will be the last Test for Alastair Cook who has had a tremendous career for England and it could also be the start of a Test career for young Prithvi Shaw and that’s another compelling reason to look forward to the game,” he added.

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