IND vs SA: Opportunity For Change Was Only There After 3rd Game - Sunil Gavaskar
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar reckoned that the Indian team had built up momentum with the wins in the third and fourth game and making a change for the final game wouldn’t have been the right call.
Eventually, the Indian team ended up with the same team in all the four completed games. Many prospects were left warming the benches but Gavaskar insists there was no other choice.
“Well when you pick 15, all of them deserve a chance. But if there could have been a change, it should have been the third game. But after winning the third game and fourth game, there was a certain momentum,” he reasoned while he was replying to a fan query who had questioned why two players—Venkatesh Iyer and Umran Malik didn’t get a chance to play.
“Others could have been given a chance” – Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar also felt that if there were going to be any changes in the first place, they would have to be on a huge scale. Considering the likes of Arshdeep Singh, who was impressive in the IPL, and was also part of the squad, it would have been a tough call.
“But not just these two (Venkatesh Iyer, Umran Malik), others could have been given a chance. But the opportunity was there only for the third game, not after that,” he added.
The fifth game of the series was washed out after incessant rains in Bengaluru forced the officials to call it off. The teams shared the trophy after it ended 2-2.
