In the third innings of the second Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar series, India bowled Australia out merely for 113. The hosts eventually won the game by six wickets to take the unassailable lead of 2-0 in the Test series. Australia had a poor outing in the 2nd innings losing the wickets in quick succession by opting for reserve-sweep and sweep shots.
More than the pitch, it was the Australian batter’s shot selection that raised many eyebrows. The visitors have been subsequently lambasted for their approach.
Meanwhile, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir criticised the Australian batsman’s approach in the 2nd innings and added the shots played by them are “pathetic”. Speaking on Star Sports Gambhir took a dig at Australian batting.
“You’re saying these are bad shots. I will say these are pathetic,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir continued that the pitch is not that bad, and the batters are predetermined to play sweep shots irrespective of the delivery.
“The wicket has nothing to do with this. It hasn’t behaved very badly. The delivery to Travis Head was great, I don’t think he should be too unhappy about how he was dismissed. But if you’re looking to sweep on a low-bouncing wicket… Usman Khawaja was out while attempting the sweep, and so did Steve Smith and Matt Renshaw,” Gambhir further added.
The majority of Australian batters including Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw, Steve Smith, and Australian skipper Pat Cummins got out while sweeping the ball and Australia was bowled out cheaply for 113 runs.
Rohit Sharma Gave Me Sleepless Night – Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to the two-title championship in 2012 and 2014 respectively said that Rohit Sharma is the captain who gave him sleepless nights.
The Lucknow Super Giants mentor said that he would happy to have Rohit and Yuvraj Singh when asked to pick any two players that he would have wanted in his KKR squad at that time.
“The only captain who gave me sleepless nights was Rohit Sharma. I didn’t need to make plans for anyone else, nor did I think much about others. Yuvraj, I think, is India’s greatest white-ball cricketer, not just because of his player of the series performance in the World Cup, but because of his vast talent and ability,” said Gambhir.
Under Gambhir’s leadership, KKR won two championship titles, a feat that his successors Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan were unable to produce. Current KKR skipper, Shreyas Iyer will look to bring the team to glory in IPL 2023.