Sunil Gavaskar wants the BCCI to take a long and hard look at the roles of India captain, coach and support staff if the team doesn’t win the two remaining Tests in Australia.
With them taking on an Australia side only just picking themselves up after the ball-tampering scandal, the four-Test tour Down Under was seen as India’s best chance to pick up their first series win in the country. They took a step towards that with a win in Adelaide in the first game, but slipped to a big defeat in the second in Perth.
Virat Kohli’s conviction about going in with four quicks and no frontline spinner has not been shared by former players and experts of the game, and Gavaskar was among those questioning the team’s repeated “selection blunders”.
Despite the success of Nathan Lyon, Virat Kohli doesn't regret not selecting a specialist spinner in Perth.https://t.co/3GSxjPMNlH
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 18, 2018
“We have been seeing this, the selection blunders that have been committed since the tour of South Africa. It has cost the team because it has lost matches which could’ve been won if the proper selection had been made,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak.
“They have to look at the combination of their team, look at the hole that needs to be plugged and pick the men [to do it]. If they do that then they can certainly win the next two matches.
Incorrectly characterised as a nice guy who cares more about being liked than winning, Tim Paine showed in Perth that he's more than capable of leading an Australia team that plays aggressive cricket, writes @Yas_Wisden.https://t.co/GhDMeOl3GQ
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 18, 2018
“But if they don’t, and that too against this Australian team which does not have Steve Smith or David Warner, then the selectors need to think whether we are getting any benefit from this lot – the captain, coach and support staff.”
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Also critical of the selectors for the jumbo 19-man squad, he added, “A lot of those players can come back and play domestic cricket, which will not only embellish our domestic cricket, lift the standard of our domestic cricket, but also give these guys, unlikely to be picked in the Test matches, an opportunity to regain form and make a case for getting back in the team.”
