Deepak Chahar scored 54 runs in third ODI but fell while going for a big shot.
Batting great, Sunil Gavaskar while criticising India’s thinking to finish a match with a glory shot said that Deepak Chahar could’ve taken his team home in the third ODI against South Africa by taking singles instead of going for a big shot.
After being thrashed by South Africa in the first two games, Team India, on account of Deepak Chahar’s 54-run knock put up a great fight in the dead-rubber third ODI, but in the end, they fell short by just 4 runs as the Proteas completed a 3-0 whitewash.
Chasing the target of 288 runs, Deepak Chahar came to bat when India was tumbling at 195/5. The right-hander played a counter-attacking inning and revived the hopes of many fans by scoring his second half-century in the ODIs.
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However, with just 10 runs needed from the 18 balls, Deepak Chahar skied a slower delivery from Lungi Ngidi and was caught by Dwaine Pretorius. After that South Africa took the last two wickets quickly to seal a 3-0 whitewash.
Speaking to Sports Tak, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that in the last 10 overs of the match, it seemed that South Africa will find it tough to win as they were under pressure. But after that, it looked like India was in a hurry.
He lauded Deepak Chahar for playing a wonderful inning. He added that when 10 runs were needed he could’ve taken singles and won the game instead of going for a big shot.
“The way the last 10 overs were turning out, it seemed as if South Africa would find it tough to win. But the way they kept their composure. The pressure was on them after Lungi Ngidi conceded a few runs. But after that, some of the shots we saw, maybe you could say… ‘what was the hurry?
“Deepak Chahar played such a wonderful innings, had almost pulled the match. We needed just 10 runs and some 18 balls were left. You could have taken singles and won the game. At that time, what was the need to play the big shot?” Sunil Gavaskar said.
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Gavaskar said that he’s not faulting Deepak Chahar but if he had to achieve a win he could’ve done it through singles and not fours and sixes. He added that because of that India lost the match, which at one stage seemed to be theirs.
"I am not faulting him. I am just saying that today the thinking is such that if you have to achieve win, you do it only through fours and sixes. Not through singles. And because of this, the match which was in India’s hands, slipped out of it," he said.
Sunil Gavaskar, terming it his way of "questioning this thinking", said players give in to the urge of getting appreciations and cheers by going for boundaries instead of singles to win the chases in the final overs.
"I am not criticising. I am just questioning this thinking that has crept into the minds of people. If you win by taking singles, people won’t say a thing. But if you hit fours, they'll say 'look, he hit a boundary to win the match. Look, he hit a six to win the match.' The urge to hear these cheers is why no one wants to take singles and win the match,” he concluded.
(Sports tak inputs)