Former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar came down harsh at the Indian players for their tactics against South Africa in the second session on day 4 of the Cape Town Test. The hosts went for lunch with just 41 more needed to sweep the series away while Kohli & Co needed 7 wickets to win. After the break, it turned out to be an easy task for the Proteas as they successfully completed the chase and denied India scripting history.
Gavaskar observed that India had already accepted defeat before the end of the match. Speaking on the Star Sports network, the former captain question why Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah didn’t bowl in the post-lunch session.
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“It was a mystery to me why Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah did not bowl after lunch. It was almost as if India had decided that they are not going to win this.
“The field placements there were for Ashwin was not right… There were singles available easily. Five fielders were in the deep. Let the batters take a chance. That is your only opportunity to get them out,” said Gavaskar.
The cricketer-turned-commentator went on to praise the home team for showing great determination while batting on tricky tracks. Gavaskar opined that the conditions weren’t batting-friendly but South African did a commendable job in the last couple of games
“The pitches weren’t the best for batting but the application shown by the South Africans in Johannesburg, the application shown by them in this Test as well has been praiseworthy. That showed the character of the team,” Gavaskar concluded.
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It would be safe to say that batsman Keegan Petersen was the flag bearer of South Africa’s batting who foiled India’s bowling strategy on crucial situations. Playing just the second Test series of his recently-started career, the 28-year-old bagged the Player of the Match and Player of the Series award for his promising show.
He ended up as the highest scorer of the 3-match series with 276 runs in 6 innings, including three half-centuries and averaged 46.
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