"There is a sense of urgency": Former cricketer expresses concern over India's top-order ahead of BGT 2024-25 4th Test
Ex-Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has revealed what the national team's top order is doing wrong in the ongoing Test series against Australia. Gavaskar, one of the most successful opening batters in the history of Test cricket, opined that players are not taking their time to settle before playing their shots.
India have had only one notable opening partnership in the series to date when KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a 201-run stand in the second innings in Perth. Jaiswal, in particular, has yet to make a significant score outside his 161 in Perth as he churned up numbers of 0, 0, 24, 4 and 4* in his remaining outings.
Speaking to The Hindustan Times, the 75-year-old opined that the visitors have to curb their attacking instinct on surfaces that do a fair bit with the new ball.
"I just get the feeling that there is a certain urgency, a certain rush that the Indian batters are showing, which on Australian surfaces when the ball is new and the bounce is something that you are not used to, is causing them problems. That is probably the main reason why we haven't seen the top order score as much with the half-push, half-drive kind of strokes they are attempting."
Rahul, promoted to open in this series, has looked the most comfortable among the Indian batters. The right-hander is the highest run-getter for the tourists after three Tests, scoring 235 runs with two fifties.
"These are all five-day Test matches and very few matches last all five days" - Sunil Gavaskar reminds Team India
Gavaskar suspected whether the message from the dressing room was for the batters to bat aggressively, and believes players uncomfortable with it could be found wanting. He added:
"Sometimes, it is about what the team decides and what the team wants. If the team says that this is the approach we are going to have, then even if that approach is not something you are used to or you are comfortable with, it is something you have got to follow. Whether that is what the team is saying, that we are going to be aggressive batters, I wouldn't know because I am not in the change room. But these are all five-day Test matches and very few matches last all five days. There is plenty of time to be able to play the shots once you've got the hang of what the pitch is doing."
India and Australia will battle in the decisive fourth Test in Melbourne, beginning on December 26.