Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar felt that the Indian team needed to take a cue from South Africa’s innings, shed their ego and adapt to the conditions instead of walking out with overconfidence and throwing their bats at everything in their T20 World Cup clash.
India’s 12-match unbeaten streak the T20 World Cup was snapped after South Africa drubbed the defending champions by 76 runs.
“Having seen how Brevis and Miller built their partnership, that was the approach needed from the Indian batters,” Gavaskar said on JioStar. “The Indian batters did not do that. They came out with overconfidence, threw their bat at everything and lost wickets. South Africa clearly outsmarted India and it was a well-deserved win for them.”
The Indian bowlers started well and pushed South Africa on backfoot with three quick wickets. However, Brevis and Miller put together a match-winning 97-run partnership to take the Proteas to a competitive total of 187/7.
In return, the Indian batting line-up imploded and repeatedly lost wickets to bundle out for 111 in 18.5 overs.
“India did not take notes from South Africa’s innings. They came out and threw their bat at every delivery hoping for a boundary. That is not how you play T20 cricket. You have to learn from the opposition. If they have scored well on a tricky surface like this, you have to get rid of your ego, observe and adjust,” said Gavaskar.
The Indian top order was guilty of batting mindlessly without taking the pitch in the account. The top three, Ishan Kishan (0), Abhishek Sharma (15) and Tilak Varma (1), were out inside the power play to slip to 26/3.
“Tilak Varma has been a very street-smart batter. But I was disappointed with his approach in this game. Ishan Kishan lost his wicket in the first over. The required rate was around 9.5 runs per over, not 15. So, Tilak could have given himself more time. At the other end, Abhishek Sharma had back-to-back ducks. So, the responsibility was on Tilak to stick around, build a partnership, and get past the first six overs, but he failed to do that,” said Gavaskar.
Bring back Axar
Gavaskar said he would like to see Axar Patel back in the playing XI against Zimbabwe in the next Super 8 clash.
“I would look at bringing Axar Patel back into the playing XI, keeping in mind the lack of too many left-handed batters in Zimbabwe’s line-up. You could possibly bring him in place of Arshdeep Singh. But Arshdeep bowled so well against South Africa and you wouldn’t want to change somebody who looked in such good rhythm. So, maybe they might not make a change and go with the same team,” Gavaskar said.
