IND v SA: 'Don't You Make Mental Adjustments?' - Sunil Gavaskar Slams Mayank Agarwal For The Way He Was Dismissed

India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was not happy with the way opener Mayank Agarwal got out in the first innings of the recent third Test match against South Africa being played at Newlands, Cape Town. Agarwal was out for 15 runs, falling to Kagiso Rabada.

Virat Kohli, who returned to the playing XI after missing the second Test at Jo’burg due to an upper back spasm, won the toss and chose to bat first. Hanuma Vihari made way for Kohli, while Mohammed Siraj, who injured his hamstring in the previous Test, was replaced by Umesh Yadav, who was preferred over Ishant Sharma. South Africa went in unchanged for this series-deciding Test match.

Just Look Where The Bat Has Gone: Sunil Gavaskar On Mayank Agarwal’s Dismissal

Mayank Agarwal was dropped on 0, scored 15 before he edged Kagiso Rabada to second slip, where Aiden Markram completed an easy catch. Sunil Gavaskar questioned Agarwal’s shot selection, saying that although the batter looks amazing while middling the ball, the India opener appears a tad vulnerable against the moving ball.

“Agarwal is a very good player when the ball is hitting the middle of the bat, for the simple reason that he’s got that lovely little push but when the ball moves a little bit, that bat speed gets him into trouble. We have seen that edge when he was on 0, that would have been a terrific catch. Look at that… see how hard he has pushed at the ball,” Gavaskar said on air.

He added: “Really if the bat and pad were together, he would have played and missed it. But because he went for it… he has gone for the ball… and in Test cricket there is an aspect of leaving the ball. Leave it as much as you can in the first hour. Just look where the bat has gone. Had it been close to the pad, he would have been fine.”

Need To Make Mental Adjustments From Format To Format: Sunil Gavaskar

The legendary opener Gavaskar, who was the first batter to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, also added that the habit of poking at the balls outside off-stump has formed in modern era batters due to the T20 format. But the former India captain stressed the importance of making adjustments in the mind upon transitioning from one format to another.

“To a great extent yes, but then it has got to be the mental adjustment more than anything else. Don’t you make mental adjustments from Test to 50-overs to T20 cricket? That is what needs to be done,” Gavaskar pointed out.

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