Pujara, Rahane mentioned as Sunil Gavaskar attacks India for reckless England-like batting in Tests

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has blamed the attacking mindset for Indian batters' poor show in the recently-concluded three-match Test series against New Zealand at home.

Team India's unbeaten run at home came to an end with a humiliating 3-0 defeat against the Black Caps who registered their first-ever Test series victory on Indian soil. India had not lost a Test series at home since the 2012-13 season. However, the Rohit Sharma-led side was thoroughly outplayed by New Zealand throughout the series.

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The Tom Latham-led side outplayed India in all the conditions during the series. In the first Test that was played in overcast conditions in Bengaluru, New Zealand bowled out India for just 46 runs in the first innings and went on to win it by eight wickets.

The surface for the second and third Tests favored spinners but New Zealand still managed to outplay India. They won the second Test by 113 runs before winning the third one by 25 runs to register a historic series win.

Sunil Gavaskar slams Indian batsmen:

One of the reasons behind India's poor performance in the series was their batsmen's struggle. Most of India's batters failed to apply themselves in testing conditions. Rishabh Pant was the only Indian batter to score more than 200 runs in the series.

Following the dismal loss, Sunil Gavaskar has come down hard on the Indian batsmen and has criticized them for their mentality while playing Test cricket. He stated that while an attacking mindset could help a player in limited-overs cricket, Test cricket demands patience.

"The real issue is the thinking where again the short boundaries and big bats mean that batters, after playing three or four dot balls, think they can change the momentum by going for a big shot," Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

"It may work with the white ball, which doesn’t swing, seam, or spin as much, but with the red ball, it’s flirting with danger, especially if one has just come in to bat.

"Test cricket requires some patience, especially on pitches where the bowlers are getting some assistance, but not many modern batters believe in that. Then there’s this new thinking that, come what may, we will play only at breakneck speed in a five-day game, and that means there is not much thought given to tiring the bowler out or waiting for conditions to improve," added the legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar.

Writing further, Sunil Gavaskar also took a dig at the selectors and team management for ignoring players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. The former cricketer pointed out how the likes of Pujara and Rahane wore down the opposition with their batting before the stroke-makers capitalized on it.

"That’s why Pujaras and Rahanes have no place in the Indian team’s plans. Pujara wore down the Australian attack, as did Rahane, and so the stroke-makers could take advantage of a tired attack and flog it and make up for a slow but watchful start.

"That kind of thinking is not there. Now there’s this business of belting the ball like England batters are doing and losing badly overseas," said Gavaskar.

Meanwhile, India will be looking to bounce back when they take on Australia in the upcoming 5-match Test series. The much-awaited series is scheduled to be played from November 22.