Sunil Gavaskar made some scathing criticism of the the team’s decision to leave out a few players. (Source: PTI)
Former captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the India’s team decisions. In a column that he wrote for Times of India, Gavaskar said that the “nice guys” of the team seem to have been left out. He mentioned the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all of whom did not make the playing XI in the four matches that have been thus far. “Maybe they should start getting a different hair style and some body art done too to get picked in the team,” said Gavaskar, referring to the tattoos and hairstyles of the likes of Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli.
“India had made changes on the expected lines with the unassuming trio of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Kedar Jadhav and Yuzvendra Chahal being left out of the side,” writes Gavaskar, “Rahul got yet another chance while the top scorer of the just-concluded One-day series in the West Indies -Ajinkya Rahane -sat out once again. After the magnificent partnership between Rohit Sharma and skipper Kohli had been broken, it was expected that Rahul would come in to bat. He would have had time to settle down and get his eye in. Instead it was Hardik Pandya who was sent in earlier.”
Gavaskar also praised the Indian team for their performance against the Sri Lankans in this series. India lead the five-match series 4-0 and will be looking to make a cleansweep in the fifth ODI that will be played in Colombo. The former Indian captain praised the bowling attack in particular. “Yes it’s not the greatest opposition in the world but while their bowling is definitely well below international standards, their batting lineup has got some class players,” Gavaskar writes, “That these batsmen have been strangled and not allowed to break free on batting friendly pitches is a credit to the Indian bowlers, who have been relentless and have not given any quarter to the belaguered Lankans.”
