‘Under-16 player will also not play…’ – Former India batter lashes out at Australia over poor batting show in 2nd Test

India and Australia collided in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The two teams engaged in what was a fantastic match right from the beginning. At the start of Day 3, the tie could have gotten anywhere with Australia having an upper hand.

The Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja swiftly decimated the Aussies, who were routinely swiping the ball. Jadeja completed with his best figures of 7/42, while Ashwin finished with three wickets. Nine wickets were lost for 53 runs on a busy day three morning, and some of the former players criticized the sweep stroke on a pitch where the ball kept low.

What did Gautam Gambhir talk about regarding the Australian batters?

Gautam Gambhir, the former India cricketer, while speaking on the Star Sports show spoke about the decision-making of the Australian batters. He said, “Why did you have to play the sweep? I have seen such a brain fade very few times in international cricket. You might get out while defending or because of a technical flaw, but they come after telling in the dressing room which shots you can and cannot play on this pitch.”

The former Delhi batter then spoke about how poor the decision-making of the batters was and compared them to an under-16 team. He said, “Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were the biggest threats, and Australia also knew that, but the way they batted was embarrassing. You don’t expect this from the World’s No. 1 team. An under-16 player will also not play such shots, the sort of shots the Australian batters played on this pitch.”

Gambhir further discussed the Indian batters stroke making and how they didn’t resort to the sweep shot. He said, “How many times did the Indian batters play the sweep on this wicket? How many sweeps did Peter Handscomb play in the first innings – none at all, and you came and just played the sweep.”