India Didn’t Want To Take A Chance After What Happened In South Africa- Sunil Gavaskar On Bengaluru Pitch Issue 

Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar shared his opinion on the Bengaluru pitch for the recent India-Sri Lanka Day-night Test being rated below average by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The pitch was rated as such after the report from match referee Javagal Srinath stated that the pitch turned from the first day and deteriorated as the match went on.

The day/night Test match played at the Chinnaswamy stadium was India’s third pink-ball match at home and one that finished inside three days as the Rohit Sharma-led side registered an emphatic 238 runs. India also won the two-Test series 2-0, which was Rohit Sharma’s debut as India’s Test captain.

Weighing in on the issue, Gavaskar feels that it was expected of India to use pitches that would aid their bowlers given their standing in the World Test Championship. He further said that after being defeated 1-2 in the Test series in South Africa, Indian team management didn’t want to take any chances, as it was important for them to win at home.

“India cleaned up yet another series win with another three-day finish to move up the points table for the World Test Championship. Their next few Test matches are likely to be away from home and after what happened in South Africa it is understandable that they did not want to take any chances and prepared pitches that suited their strength. What that does do however is that the batsmen, who the crowds come to watch, are also troubled by the opposition bowlers and unable to get the big scores that their millions of followers want to see,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.

Sunil Gavaskar Impressed With Shreyas Iyer And Rishabh Pant’s Batting On A Rank Turner At Bengaluru

India batted first on a turning pitch and made 252 in 1^st innings with Shreyas Iyer scoring a masterful 92. Sri Lanka was then bowled out for 109 with Jasprit Bumrah taking 5/24. In the second innings, Rishabh Pant smashed 50 in just 28 balls and Iyer again scored 67 as India put on 303/9d. Sri Lanka was bundled out for 208 while chasing 447 to win, despite captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s 107.

Praising Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant for their amazing batting, Gavaskar wrote: “On pitches which are challenging, a batsman needs not only technique and temperament, but a huge dose of luck too. The other approach is to bat in the limited overs method, where the batsman regularly takes a chance trusting his power and timing to hit the ball into the stands or the open spaces. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer did that with aplomb and in the process showed that with a bit of daring and some luck, runs could be scored.”

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