Veteran India opener, Gautam Gambhir won’t switch off the television even though the final Test match at The Oval is nothing but a dead rubber. England had already sealed the series 3-1, and Virat Kohli’s men have no way of making a comeback this late.
India came cross to crossing the line but lost the Southampton Test by 60 runs. The visitors failed to seize the opportunity while England grabbed them with both hands.
Alastair Cook’s farewell Test has moved the spotlight from the Indian team for a fair bit of time, but the lads will have to play out their skin to take some pride back.
India have put the hosts under pressure – Gambhir
“Looking forward to the last Test. Obviously, the series is done and dusted. But India has everything to play for. They have competed really well. But in international cricket, it is not only about competing but winning Test matches. The positive has been the bowling attack. They have put England under pressure all the time. It’s just that the batters haven’t been able to put runs on the board,” Gambhir said in his video column to ToI.
Gambhir felt India could have taken the upper hand in the series but failed to chase down tricky totals. Chasing 245 in the fourth Test, India lost their last seven wickets for 61 runs.
“There were two instances in Edgbaston and Southampton where India could have won both the Test matches. They should have chased both the targets down. But it just didn’t happen. So I feel India would be looking to win the 5th Test match and make it 3-2 rather than 4-1. Looking forward to the match. Oval is a great venue to host a Test match,” Gambhir asserted.