Xtra Time Web Desk: Legendary Sunil Gavaskar criticized the Indian cricket team for their lack of practice ahead of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at Centurion, where they suffered an innings defeat. Gavaskar expressed disappointment as the Indian team failed to conquer the final frontier, emphasizing that the hosts appeared better prepared for the series. Despite KL Rahul’s resilient century (101) in the first innings, South Africa dominated, with Dean Elgar’s 185-run innings leading to a total of 408. Gavaskar highlighted India’s insufficient preparation as a key factor in their defeat, as they were subsequently bowled out for 131 in the second innings.
“The reasons are straight forward; you didn’t play any matches here. If you straightaway play Test matches, it doesn’t work out. Yes, you sent the India A team. The India A team should actually come before the tour,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
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The Little Master emphasized the importance of playing practice games ahead of an overseas Test match. The Indian cricket team did play a three-day intra-squad match at Pretoria ahead of the test series. But according to the legendary cricketer it is not an ideal preparation for test series. Gavaskar reckoned that the team would have been more adept with the conditions had they played practice matches against the South Africa A team.
“You need to play practice matches after coming here. Intra-squad is a joke because would your fast bowlers bowl extremely fast to your batters, would they bowl bouncers, as they would be scared about injuring their batters,” Gavaskar added.
Barring the exception of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, all the Indian batters struggled against the Proteas pace attack. The meek surrender prompted concerns about the team’s adaptability. The upcoming 2nd Test which starts at Newlands stadium in Cape Town from January 3 presents an opportunity for the visitors to regroup and address their shortcomings.
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