Indian openers' poor show on Day 1 of the Adelaide D/N pink-ball encounter on Thursday (December 17) left batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar feeling extremely disappointed. Gavaskar was livid with the techniques shown by Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal, who were both out bowled. 

Shaw got out for a duck second-ball after opening his bat face and dragging the ball back on to the stumps against Australia's left-arm quick Mitchell Starc. And while Agarwal showed some resistance for his 40-ball 17, he too was guilty of leaving a gap between his pad and the bat against Pat Cummins. 

WATCH - Ponting predicts Shaw's exact mode of dismissal before he's out for a duck 

"Even today, have a look at where his (Shaw's) bat ends. There is such a big gap between bat and pad," Gavaskar told '7 Cricket'. "Just the second delivery of the game and you want to make sure that you are playing with soft hands. You are playing as late as possible."

"The whole idea in Test match cricket is that you don't go there. Then you are leaving that much of a gap between bat and pad, allowing for any late movement, either to get an inside edge or snick between bat and pad."

"The trick is to try and play as close to the pads as possible, which means your bat speed has to be minimal at the start of the innings. As you grow in confidence, yes then you go and play your shots. But at the start when you are not even off the mark, you want to try and reduce your bat speed. Don't leave any gap between bat and pad," he added. 

On Mayank specifically, Gavaskar said, "Well again, you can have a look at this. He's (Mayank) played very hard at the ball, later on. This particular shot shows that the bat is close to the pad. It wasn't."

"The ball snicked through there was such a big gap..a truck could have gone. A truck could have gone between that bat and pad. So that's what the Indians are making a big mistake."

After the two opening batsmen's departure, Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli steadied the Indian ship with a very fine partnership. But it's a huge cause of worry for the tourists that their openers aren't looking in the best of form at the start of such a marquee series.