Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar slammed the technique of Indian openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal after the two of them were dismissed cheaply on Day 1 of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. The visitors were looking for a solid start after opting to bat first
While Shaw was out for a duck, Agarwal just 17. Thus they failed to give India a good start leaving Gavaskar furious. Both were out bowled as they failed to read the line and length of the delivery as it breached their defence.
Speaking to India Today from Adelaide, Sunil Gavaskar criticised the two openers for not taking time to get set on the best of batting conditions at the venue. He first pointed out the fault in the batting technique of Shaw. Previously, Watch – Ricky Ponting’s Pinpoint Commentary Explaining Prithvi Shaw’s Weakness A Ball Before His Dismissal he got out.
“Even today, have a look at where his bat ends. There is such a big gap between bat and pad. Just the second delivery of the game and you want to make sure that you are playing with soft hands. You are playing as late as possible. The whole idea in Test match cricket is that you don’t go there. Then you are leaving that much of a gap between bat and pad, allowing for any late movement, either to get an inside edge or snick between bat and pad,” Sunil Gavaskar said as quoted by India Today.
Sunil Gavaskar Slams Technique of Indian Openers
The former Indian skipper has always highlighted the importance of playing close to the body with the pad and the bat going in sync. However, the mistake from Shaw made Gavaskar go bonkers on the youngster.
He then spoke about what was wrong with Mayank Agarwal’s shot which saw him getting dismissed. He scored 17 of 40 balls and did the hard work of seeing the shine of the ball. However, he misjudged the length of the ball from Pat Cummins and was late to bring down his bat as he was beaten by pace and an in dipping delivery.
“Well again, you can have a look at this. He’s (Mayank) played very hard at the ball, later on. This particular shot shows that the bat is close to the pad. It wasn’t. The ball snicked through there was such a big gap..a truck could have gone. A truck could have gone between that bat and pad. So that’s what the Indians are making a big mistake,” Sunil Gavaskar added.
India lost the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane at the wrong time to hand the advantage to the Aussies on Day 1. India ended the day on 233/6.
