SYDNEY: After India’s disappointing batting performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, head coach Gautam Gambhir sent a strong message to his players, urging them to feature in domestic cricket.
India’s era of dominance against Australia in the BGT ended after 10 years at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday with another emphatic defeat. The Indian side faced a humbling six-wicket loss.
When analysing India’s 3-1 series defeat, the underwhelming and unrealistic batting performances from experienced players stand out as a key reason behind the downfall.
With India’s batters struggling on turning tracks and pacy surfaces, Gambhir highlighted the importance of playing domestic cricket.
“I would always like everyone to play domestic cricket. That is how much importance domestic cricket needs to be given. Not only one game, if they are available and if they have the commitment to play red-ball cricket, everyone should play domestic cricket. If you don’t give importance to domestic cricket, then you will never get the desired Test players,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference.
One bright spot in India’s batting was the rise of youngsters. Yashasvi Jaiswal (391) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (298), both on their maiden tours of Australia, finished as the top two leading run-scorers for India.
India’s woes with the bat were reflected in the performances of icons like Rohit Sharma (31), Virat Kohli (190), Shubman Gill (93), Rishabh Pant (255), and Ravindra Jadeja (135).
While speculations continue about the future of these stalwarts before the next Test series in June, Gambhir believes it is too early to make any predictions.
“It is too early to talk about it. We have five months to plan. It is not the right moment for me to talk about where we will be after five months. A lot of things change in sports. Whatever happens will happen in the best interest of Indian cricket,” Gambhir added. (ANI)