ICC WTC Final: Sunil Gavaskar Reacts To Ajinkya Rahane's Dismissal Off Neil Wagner

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar seemed unimpressed by the way India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane threw his wicket away in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton. Even though Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 49, he played a half-hearted pull shot, resulting in his wicket at a crucial juncture. Sunil Gavaskar reveals why he thinks the veteran decided to for that shot.

Ajinkya Rahane, previously troubled by New Zealand left-arm seamer Neil Wagner, made the Indian batsman his victim. The dismissal occurred in the 79th over when Neil Wagner delivered a short-pitched ball in the third ball of the over and Rahane mistimed it. Wagner followed up with the same in the very next ball and did not time it again. He ended up spooning it to square leg, where Tom Latham took the catch relatively comfortably. Rahane stitched a vital 61-run stand with Virat Kohli that ended on the third morning.

Sunil Gavaskar underlined that Ajinkya Rahane wanted to dab one to the on side as he was looking for his fifty. The 71-year old revealed that the ball bounced a bit too much and the right-handed batsman could not control the pull and could not do the same before either.

“Only explanation is that he was going for his fifty, he was looking to get a single to reach his milestone by a little dab on the onside. In the end, the ball bounced and he couldn’t control, in fact, the ball before that too he couldn’t control it,” Gavaskar stated from the commentary box.

Ajinkya Rahane will end the 2019-21 World Test Championship as India’s highest run-getter:

Despite that, Ajinkya Rahane will finish the 2019-21 World Test Championship edition as India’s highest run-getter. In 18 matches, the 33-year old has 1144 runs at 44, with three centuries and six fifties. Opener Rohit Sharma is next in line with 1064 runs.

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