Sunil Gavaskar bats for Rohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav's inclusion in Tests
Sunil Gavaskar has insisted that Rohit Sharma, who was dropped for the one off Test against Afghanistan, has made a case for himself to be recalled in the Test squad. He praised Kuldeep Yadav for his impressive performances and pointed out that he would be a major problem for the English players.
Led by inspired performances from left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav and opener Rohit Sharma, India routed the hosts to go one-up in the three-match series. Riding on a terrific 167-run partnership between opener Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli, India on Thursday thumped England by 8 wickets in the first one-day international at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Chasing a target of 269, India chased down the total with 59 balls to spare. Sunil Gavaskar praised Sharma and insisted that he has made a case for a recall in the Test squad.
“But then what is a challenging total for this Indian batting line-up? They won with more than nine overs to spare and never even looked stretched doing that. Rohit Sharma’s batting has always been like a smooth super car that zooms along at great speed even when it does not appear to be doing so. He was left out of the squad for the Test against Afghanistan, but is making a strong case for a recall with the way he is batting,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for TOI.
“It is not just about getting acclimatised to the weather, but also the pitches and any batsman who scores two centuries in two different formats means that he has adjusted and is ready for the longer format too.”
The England openers, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy put the new ball bowlers under pressure with a 73-run partnership in 10.2 overs. But Kuldeep Yadav came up with a repeat show of his opening act in the T20 series at Old Trafford, where he claimed a six-wicket haul (10-0-25-6). It was an embarrassing batting effort from Eoin Morgan’s men with only Jos Buttler shining. Once he was out for 53, the rest of the innings caved in. Gavaskar praised the performance from Kuldeep Yadav and pointed out that England would have to work out a plan for him.Â
“The other person who has made a strong case for himself is Kuldeep Yadav. More than the Indian batting it is how to tackle the left-arm wrist spinner that will stress the England think tank. Apart from Jos Buttler, none of the English batsmen seem to have a clue which way the ball is going to turn,” he wrote.
It was a day when nothing went right for the England team. Perhaps the best example of England’s struggles was Ben Stokes’ innings. The dashing all-rounder scored his slowest half-century, 50 in 102 balls. Gavaskar stated that England would have to rethink their strategy as their batting has been sub-par.Â
“India’s clinical performance in the first One-Day International at Nottingham will give the England think tank plenty to ponder about for the next two games. On a pitch where the average score in the last five years has been in excess of 300, to be bundled out for 268 and that too without two of India’s most experienced bowlers, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, will make England think long and hard about how to go about putting up a challenging total,”
