India are currently 1-2 behind in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Team India lost the third Test against England at Lord’s by 22 runs while chasing 193 in the fourth innings. They are now 1-2 behind in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and can’t afford to lose any more matches or the series will be gone.
The second and third Tests saw KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant continue their brilliant forms, but while India benefitted from three of their dynamic batters, they missed Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fireworks.
Karun Nair, who has returned to the side after eight years on the back of prolific domestic run, remains the only Indian batter to not score a single half-century in three Tests so far.
With an eight-day gap between the third and fourth Tests, Sunil Gavaskar expected the likes of Jaiswal, Karun and others to take part in a practice match. But that didn't happen, drawing sharp reaction from the former India captain.
"While it is fair for the seniors to take it easy in these gaps and try and get away from cricket and get their bodies and minds refreshed for the remaining battles, the youngsters in the team without much experience of playing in foreign conditions could do with game time to press their case for inclusion in the playing XI. Even those out of form or rhythm would appreciate the chance to get their mojo back," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
"Not having any match practice will only make the guys, who have not done well to worry a bit more, which doesn’t stand them in good stead. This eight-day gap before the Manchester Test would have been most useful for the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran to get some useful batting practice even if it was a match played against an ordinary team," he added.
Gavaskar had same sentiments reserved for some of the Indian bowlers. "For bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna too, it would have helped to get their run-ups, lines and lengths going. Imagine if they suddenly have to bowl in a Test match when they haven’t played any cricket for more than a month. To expect them to get going straightaway would be totally unfair on these young and keen cricketers," he remarked.
The penultimate Test is slated to begin on July 23 at Old Trafford in Manchester.