Sunil Gavaskar takes a jibe at these Indian cricket team stars for weak fielding
Indian cricket team has made rapid strides in fielding under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, but Sunil Gavaskar was not impressed with Ravichandran Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara’s efforts during the third Test match in New Delhi.
india vs sri lanka 2017 Updated: Dec 07, 2017 16:02 IST
One of the areas in which Indian cricket team has improved drastically under the leadership of Virat Kohli in the recent times is their fielding. The cricketers are super fit and probably for the first time, they can match the athletic skills of traditional fielding powerhouses like South Africa and Australia.
However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that there are still some slow movers in the team and he identified two such fielders on the fifth day of the third Test against Sri Lanka in New Delhi. Gavaskar, who was covering the game as a commentator, first decided to take a potshot at Cheteshwar Pujara before taunting spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
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“He seems like an automotive that runs with a handbrake on,” were the on-air words of the legendary opener while describing the fielding skill of Pujara.
About Ashwin, he had this to say- “There may be intent however no longer a lot growth.”
Both Ashwin and Pujara, though, had a decent match in New Delhi. While Ashwin claimed four wickets, Pujara came up with scores of 23 and 49. The game, which ended in a draw, though, would be primarily remembered for Virat Kohli’s double hundred and the sight of Sri Lankan players wearing masks and leaving the field on the second day due to rising level of pollution.
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India won the series 1-0 with the hosts beating the visitors in the second Test at Nagpur. The first Test in Kolkata had ended in a draw too. This was India’s ninth consecutive Test series win and with that, they equalled Australia’s record for the most number of Test series victories on the trot.
Under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy, Australia had recorded nine straight series wins between 2005 and 2008. Virat Kohli’s men have not lost a Test series since 2015 with their victories coming against Sri Lanka (thrice, 2-1, 3-0, 1-0), South Africa (3-0), West Indies (2-0), Bangladesh (1-0), England (4-0), New Zealand (3-0) and Australia (2-1).