"He had to play smart cricket"- Sunil Gavaskar questions Deepak Hooda's shot selection against SA in T20 World Cup 2022
Former Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar wasn't impressed with the way all-rounder Deepak Hooda was dismissed against South Africa in Perth at the T20 World Cup on Sunday.
Hooda did not open his account and had faced just a couple of deliveries. However, instead of building a partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, he just went hard for a cut shot and could only edge it behind to Quinton de Kock.
Speaking to India Today, Sunil Gavaskar explained the importance of 'smart cricket' on tricky pitches like the one in Perth. He said:
"I have been stressing about playing an extra batter but Deepak Hooda tried to attack in his 3rd delivery when he had Suryakumar Yadav at the other end. He had to play smart cricket."
When Deepak hooda was not have to ball, then why he is picked over Rishabh pant 😯
Amazing management 🤔
India did miss quite a few run-out opportunities as well as a simple catch in the field. However, Gavaskar believes it is the batting that has let them down. He added:
"In cricket, you are going to have situations where catches are going to be dropped, run-out opportunities missed. What you really going to see is that we didn't score enough runs. I don't think we played smart enough cricket because if you had played smart cricket, we would have had a 150 on the board."
India have to be careful: Sunil Gavaskar on remaining games
Sunil Gavaskar has opined that Team India shouldn't panic after just one loss. He believes they should win their games against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and qualify for the semifinals. However, he has also warned them to not take any of the teams likely.
On this, Sunil Gavaskar stated:
"Yes, let's not press the panic button at all. We have 4 points and 2 matches to go. 2 matches against opponents we should be able to win. You should never taken any team lightly, Bangladesh have given us a run for the money in T20Is. Even Zimbabwe, the way they have played in this World Cup, we have to be careful."
The Men in Blue still have their destiny in their own hands and will back themselves to get four points from their remaining two games.